Hostage Situation
by DrawBee
Summary: It's the celebration party for Isaka's new position as Marukawa's president. Everybody shows up for the sake of protecting their jobs, however things take a turn for the worse as the night progresses. The captive guests fear for their lives as their apparent time remaining becomes numbered. It'll become a night that nobody will ever forget...
1. Shit Just Got Real

**A/N: Once upon a time, a plot bunny was formed. That evil bunny kept gnawing at the carrot. At one point the carrot yelled at the plot bunny. "Fine! I'll write it! Just get off me!"**

**Thus, this random story was born. **

**I'm not going to lie, I originally intended for this to be a oneshot but the word count kept getting larger and I figured there was no way I could pack it all into one chapter. This'll be about four chapters, I think... **

**My other stories will possibly have slower updates, by the way.**

**Sorry for any grammar errors I might have missed. I re-read this like five times but I know that somewhere in there is another error.**

**P.s. The people who are reading my other fic, Remembering when My World Ended, it is not over! I didn't realize it looked like it ended until one of the reviewers had mentioned it. It's not over! It still hasn't gotten to the main conflict so there's no way it's over yet! I'll update it one day...**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Sekaiichi Hatsukoi or its characters.**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

A certain brunet is searching through his things until two strong arms wrap around his lithe waist followed by the light scent of cigarettes and coffee. "Takano-san, let me go!" Peridot eyes hastily looked up to see a pair of amber eyes warmly looking down. Ritsu blushed as he noticed how close their faces were.

The black-haired man gave him a peck on the cheek. "Hmmm? Why?" Masamune's heavy hum vibrated throughout the smaller man's body.

Still trying to get out of his hold, Ritsu slightly turned as he forced out, "We still have to get ready for the party! Could you please at least get everything together?!" Looking at Masamune's body, Ritsu frowned as he saw that the larger man was still in his casual clothes.

Tonight was the new president's celebration party. After the fear of ultimately being kicked to the curb if the dead beat employees of Marukawa don't bring in any money, everybody decided to pitch in to throw a grand party to hopefully save their jobs. The people in the Emerald department such as Masamune and Ritsu didn't have to worry too much for their jobs since their authors' manga make enough sales to slip under Isaka's radar. That was pretty much a given. However, their jobs could still be in jeopardy if they don't show up.

"Only if you tell me you love me." He softly whispered into Ritsu's reddish ear.

"W-why the hell do I have to say that?!"He stuttered.

"Well I'm pretty sure it's true." The man shrugged. "Unless we're just fuck buddies."

"No way in hell is that true!"

Masamune smirked. "Which one?"

"…Just let me go." Ritsu blushed even harder as he looked away.

"Fine then." Masamune sighed as he let him go, momentarily patting him on the head. He headed for the door. "I'll be in my apartment to get my suit on."

The tall man stopped for a moment. "Just so you know, the fastest way we're getting to the hotel is by car. I'll be driving us but there's one thing you should know."

"W-what?"

"I love you."

"…!" A set of beautiful green eyes widened as the shorter man started fidgeting through the pile of clothes.

The amber-eyed man chuckled. "I'm amazed at how cute you can be."

He immediately turned around. "Don't call me cute!" The brunet had yelled as his lover exited the apartment.

* * *

….

Across town, a certain sharp-eyed man is getting ready for the party. Yokozawa momentarily looked at the full-sized mirror to make sure his deep brown suit was in order, navy blue tie and all. "Takafumi, are you ready?" Called out a deep voice.

Walking into the room, Yokozawa turned to see his lover, Kirishima Zen. "Yeah, but I can see you're not."

"Papa, your tie is kind of crooked." Walking into the room, a cute little brunette with soft brown eyes giggled as she looked at her father. She wore a red ruffled dress that fell to her knees with a white section over her torso. Her long soft hair fell to her petite shoulders as she tilted her small head towards her father.

"Oh, is it?" Blinking twice, Kirishima looked down at his chest to see that his dark orange tie was in fact crooked.

Yokozawa sighed as he walked over to his clumsy lover. "Hold still, let me fix it."

A mischievous smile crept down on the wavy-haired man's face as he looked down on Yokozawa fixing his tie. "Aww, this is just like how a Mama would fix Papa's tie before he goes off to work."

"Don't push it!" Blushing, Yokozawa accidentally tightened the tie too much as Kirishima momentarily coughed. "Sorry…"

"Papa, Yokozawa onii-chan, how do I look?"

Both men turned to look at the little girl and smiled as she twirled, her sweet scent fluttering around. "Like a beautiful angel."

"Looks like you're going to have trouble beating off the boys with a stick as she gets older." Yokozawa had whispered to his taller lover. It was a clear fact to everybody that has seen Hiyori that she'll grow up to be a beautiful woman. Taking after her deceased mother, both men had an obvious realization that she'll look like her.

Kirishima scoffed. "Takafumi, do you honestly think I would use a stick? A baseball bat would be so much better."

Hearing her father's reply, Hiyori tilted her head in confusion. "A bat? What would you use a bat for, Papa?"

* * *

…..

In another apartment, a couple is getting ready for the party, however there is one thing slowing them down. "Kisa-san, I've said this before but you have some weird kinks, you know that?" A sparkly brunet had said as he looked down at the raven haired man. Both men were already dressed in tuxedos but they were both being stalled by Kisa's infatuation.

"Just shut up and let me stare at you!" The short man shouted, causing the younger male to raise an eyebrow when he pulled out a phone.

"You're taking pictures of me too?" The handsome man pouted as the phone's clicks repeatedly went off. "It's no fun if I'm the only one in the photo…"

"…!" Kisa held back a blush as Yukina held him close.

Yukina held a glimmering smile as he aimed the camera towards themselves. "That's better!" Looking at the photo, both men nodded in approval as Yukina noticed the time. "Oh, but we should hurry. Your company's party is going to start soon."

Kisa went slightly pale. "Crap…"

* * *

…

In yet another apartment, another couple was also getting ready for the party. A lean man with dark blue eyes frowned as he looked at the mirror. He slightly flinched at the deep voice followed by solid footsteps entering the room. "Yoshino, what's taking you so long?"

The shoujo mangaka turned to his lover, as he slightly blushed. "Sorry, Tori. I'm trying to fix my tie."

Hatori sighed as he gripped the crooked tie. "Hold still."

As he proceeded to undo the tie and start over, his blushing lover slightly pouted. "…Remind me again why I have to go to Isaka-san's party? Wouldn't you normally tell me to focus on the storyboard?" Knowing that his lover isn't the best with crowds, Hatori was going to explain until a third voice cut in.

"That's because everybody who doesn't show up will be kicked to the curb. Since you're one of Emerald's star authors, Isaka will definitely be in a good mood if you show up. You'll be saving everybody else who couldn't show up, even if they don't realize it."

"Yuu?" Both men turned towards the garnet eyed man leaning against the doorway, all ready to go in his dark blue suit and a crimson red tie.

Hatori sighed again. "…What he said."

"Oh, Yuu you're all ready to go?"

"Yep, just waiting on you two." The third wheel smirked at Hatori. "What's with the long face, Hatori?"

"…" Not saying anything, Hatori sighed yet again.

* * *

…

In another apartment, yet another couple was getting ready for the party. "Remind me again why we're going to this party?" A famous novelist had asked. Usami Akihiko was all ready to go in his black and white suit but was still reluctant to go to the party he was invited to.

Misaki innocently tilted his head as he did his own tie. "Didn't Aikawa-san give you an extension on your deadline for going to the party, Usagi-san? Besides, I want to congratulate Isaka-san." Even though the man had caused them some slight problems in the past, the young man couldn't help but want to support the man in his success by going to the party.

"…" By the time he finished tying the tie, strong arms were wrapped around the young man's waist.

"U-usagi-san?!" He blushed as the white-haired man pulled him into his broad chest.

"I'd rather stay here and have a refill of Misaki…" Lavender eyes were filled with lust as Akihiko licked his thin lips. "Perhaps for the entire night."

"…I-" The blushing brunet was about to nod before the front door slammed open.

"Misaki-kun! Sensei! Are you two ready yet?"

"Tsk." Akihiko clicked his tongue as the clacker of heeled shoes neared.

* * *

…

Sapphire eyes sparkled at the grand reception hall of the Teito hotel. "Wow, this looks amazing!" The man twirled around towards his employees. "You all didn't have to put so much into this!"

_Oh yes we did…!_

Is what all of the guests of the party thought.

However, everybody couldn't help but feel satisfied at the sight of the money they put into reserving the room. Two grand chandeliers hung from the high ceiling, beautifully lighting up the room. There was a faint scent of roses that wafted through the air as the nearby hired band played some light music. The crimson carpet greatly aided in making the other elements of the room stand out, such as the creamy orange walls and pure white pillars.

"Ryuuichiro-sama, here you go." Asahina handed off a microphone to Isaka as he headed for the stage.

"Let's get this party started!"

Everybody sat in their respective seats as the new president made his reasonably lengthened speech. At one point, each head of a department had come up to the stage to perform their own speech. Ritsu slightly grimaced as Masamune plastered on a glimmering smile that sent some of the girls squealing as he did his own speech.

By the time the speeches were over, everybody got up to form their own little groups as they started to chat. "Ah, Yokozawa." The blue-eyed man turned at the mention of his name to see his old friend.

"Masamune?"

The black-haired man sent a knowing glance to the taller man. "I take it you're here for the same reason?"

The sharp-eyed man chuckled as he crossed his arms. "Yep, I valued my job so I came. Actually, I think that's the reason everybody from Marukawa came." As if on cue, the nearby employees who overheard them slightly flinched.

"That's right~!" Kirishima had said, wrapping his arm across Yokozawa's broad shoulder.

"But we might as well make the most out of this." Mino happily pointed out. "There's no way we'll be kicked to the curb." Needless to say, some of the employees that overheard them sent some minor glares that were ignored.

The group held a unanimous agreement before Masamune noticed Ritsu's worried expression. "Onodera, what's wrong?"

"Ah, sorry. It's just… those people seem kind of weird." Turning towards the entrance of the party, everybody raised an eyebrow at the sight of two oddly clothed men standing at the doorway.

"They're probably just security guards, Onodera." Masamune had told him.

"I guess…" Even though everybody else had shrugged them off, Ritsu just couldn't. Deep in his mind, he could tell that the strange people were eerily familiar but he couldn't remember exactly who they were. He kept thinking until a new voice popped in.

Trailing behind Kisa was a tall brunet, and a small horde of women. "Ah, Yokozawa-san! It's been a while!"

Yokozawa turned to see the familiar light-haired brunet. "Yukina?" Sharp blue eyes blinked twice as he looked over the shoujo manga clerk all dressed up. "You're here too?" He almost didn't recognize him considering the fact that all of his ear piercings were gone and this was the first time he'd seen him dressed so formally.

Yukina happily nodded as a set of sparkles surrounded him. "Kisa-san told me something about going to a party 'against his will' and I figured it'd be a lot more fun if we came together." Everybody held back a snort at the mention of 'against his will'.

Realizing they were being ignored, the women decided to leave the group alone and prowl the rest of the room for more eye candy. "So you're friends now?"

Blushing, Kisa shifted his eyes to the side. "…Something like that."

"Huh? Who's this little girl?" Mino asked.

Kirishima patted the little brunette on the head. "This is my daughter, Hiyori."

Blushing, the little girl slightly bowed. "I-it's nice to meet you all…!"

"She looks like a little angel…" Yukina gave a sparkly smile as he looked at her.

"U-um…" Brown eyes slightly squinted at the brightness. "So many sparkles…"

* * *

…

Getting separated by the crowd, the two men decided to go out on the balcony for a little catching up. Masamune sniffed in the cool night air as Yokozawa started. "So, Masamune… how's it going with Onodera?"

"Pretty well, for the most part."

Yokozawa raised a black eyebrow. "The most part? What is there some kind of problem?"

Masamune propped his arm up on the metallic railing as he looked towards the city lights below. "It's more like, we're doing everything but it doesn't feel like we're actually dating. I'm still waiting for him."

Realizing what he meant by that, Yokozawa frowned as he looked down. "I see…" The crispy air blew through their hair as they had a moment of silence.

"Come to think of it, you've gotten even closer to Kirishima-san since the last time we chatted. You've actually gotten more laid back than what I remember."

The businessman scratched the back of his head as he stuttered. "W-well…" Even though he and Kirishima had been dating for so long, he had never brought it up with Masamune. It's not that he wanted to hide it from him, he just never found the right time to bring it up.

Slightly chuckling, Masamune gave a warm smile. "Just so you know, I'm happy for you."

A little surprised, Yokozawa momentarily hung his mouth open before he murmured. "…Thanks."

A new voice chimed in. "It looks like you two are having fun."

"K-Kirishima? How long have you been there?"

Walking next to his lover, Kirishima swung an arm around Yokozawa's shoulders. "Not very long. What were you talking about?"

The blue-eyed man immediately blushed as he looked away. "N-nothing."

* * *

…..

Back in the room, Ritsu decided to head over to the caterers' table before he paused at the desserts. "…!" Green eyes sparkled with rare joy. "Oh my god, I didn't know they had macarons!"

Ritsu turned at the sound of Hiyori running up beside him. "Macarons? Ooh, they look so good!" She cutely looked up at him. "You like macarons too, onii-chan?"

"Yeah, an old friend of mine liked to give them to me whenever she came back from France. My favorites are the ones filled with ganache."

"Ganache?"

"Oh, it's basically a mixture of chocolate and cream. See?" Taking one out of the surprisingly large pile, he handed it to Hiyori.

"…!" Taking a bite of the chocolaty treat, the little girl gave a goofy smile. "I never had these types before! So delicious…"

The server at the table slightly leaned over to talk to Hiyori. "If you'd like, we can wrap up some for you. Somebody ordered the wrong amount and we made too much." Ritsu slightly nodded as he realized why the pile was so large compared to the rest of the desserts.

Hiyori slightly jumped from joy. "Really?!" Ritsu and the server chuckled at her cuteness as he took out a plastic bag and filled it up with the snacks.

She slightly squealed as the man handed her off the bag. "Papa, I got…" Turning around, the girl paused as her eyes momentarily searched the room. "Papa? Yokozawa onii-chan? Where'd they go?"

Turning around, Ritsu realized that he was alone as well. "Eh? Takano-san? He's not here either…" They both looked around the packed room but couldn't see any trace of them.

"Maybe they got lost?"

"Maybe…" Not really sure, Ritsu only nodded in agreement. "Oh yeah, I haven't introduced myself. I'm Onodera Ritsu, it's a pleasure to meet you."

"It's a pleasure to meet you too!" The little girl blinked twice before she thought up something. "Oh. Is it alright if I call you Ricchan?"

Ritsu chuckled. "Yes, it's alright. If you want, we can look for the others together." Even though he's not used to dealing with children, the brunet couldn't help but find the little girl amazingly refreshing. He normally had to deal with adults for obvious reasons and he couldn't find comfort in animals considering how they react towards him but he did like the fact on how children can be so pure.

"Okay!" And the duo proceeded to walk around the room.

* * *

…

"Oh my god, you can literally smell the fear in here." Yanase sighed as he looked at all the guests. Most of them seemed to be very stiff in the way they walked and talked to each other.

"Really? Is it because of those weird guys nearby the door?" Not realizing why everybody was truly scared, Yoshino only came to the next conclusion considering the fact that those men really stuck out like a sore thumb.

"I think everybody is more terrified for their jobs if this party doesn't go off without a hitch. Those weird guys are probably the last things on everybody's minds." Yanase didn't particularly care for the party considering the fact that he was a freelancer artist and could always find work. He knew that Hatori would most likely leave Yoshino to his own devices during the party and he couldn't just leave his crush to go to the party like that, even if his heart did break.

The two men turned to the sound of an approaching voice. "Excuse me, have you seen Takano-san, Kirishima-san, or Yokozawa-san?" Yoshino blinked twice at the sight of the young man he previously met at the company's annual party. Both men momentarily got to know Ritsu when he helped out with the typeset on a manga when Yoshino had to cover for another mangaka.

"Nope, sorry guys." Yanase shook his head.

Ritsu slightly nodded his head. "Oh. It's alright. Thanks."

The two were about to leave until the girl chirped out, "Oh! Have you tried the macarons?"

"Macarons?" The girl pulled two out of the plastic bag. Taking one, Yoshino immediately perked up at the chocolaty taste. "…!" Yanase also took one and his eyes momentarily sparkled at the taste. "So good…" He wasn't particularly a fan of sweets but he did oddly enough like the tastes of the snack.

The two are snapped out of their daze when a new voice comes in. "Can I try one?" Ritsu turned to see his coworker right behind him. "Mino-san?"

Hiyori giggled as she took out another one. "Here you go!"

* * *

….

After having a small chat with Mino, Ritsu turned to see Kisa and his boyfriend on the other side of the elegant room. "Kisa-san, have you seen Takano-san, Yokozawa-san, or Kirishima-san?"

"Sorry, Ricchan. We haven't seen any of them pass by." Ritsu sadly nodded in reply.

"Umm… I was wondering…" Hiyori slightly fidgeted as she looked up at Yukina. "How do you make those sparkles, onii-chan?"

Kisa slightly furrowed his eyebrows as he looked at the sparkles surrounding his boyfriend. "That's actually something I've been wondering for a long time."

The princely man innocently tilted his head. "I don't know. They just pop out of nowhere." Momentarily glancing at the sparkles, he looked back at the confused little girl. "But that's a pretty good question."

The other two men started to chuckle at his response. "I see. Oh, did you try the macarons yet?"

"Macarons?" The little girl giggled as she took two more out of her bag.

* * *

….

The two walked around for ten more minutes until Hiyori started to rub her flat stomach. "Um, Ricchan? Do you know where the bathroom is?"

"Oh, I think it was down the hallway."

The man gestured for her to follow as the two headed for the doors. "Where do you think you're going?" One of the strange men stood in front of the doorway as the duo tried to exit the room.

Out of instinct, Ritsu stood in front of Hiyori, wary of the strange man at the door. "…" Scared, Hiyori hung onto the hem of Ritsu's jacket.

Ritsu dangerously narrowed his emerald eyes as he looked up at the stranger. "We're going to the bathroom. Is there a problem with that, sir?" Ritsu couldn't understand why he felt so angry towards the strange men but he pressed forward. "Well?" He venomously hissed.

Taken aback by the brunet's overwhelming glare, the man moved out of the way. "…No."

"Excuse us."

Walking down the hallway, Hiyori stole a glance at the doors of the party before she turned back at Ritsu. "Who are those people?"

Unfurrowing his brow, Ritsu calmed down as he glanced at Hiyori. "I don't know, but I have a bad feeling about them. I think it'd be best to stay away from them, Hiyori-chan." Not knowing what to say, Hiyori could only nod.

The two walked for about a minute before Ritsu could figure out what to say next. "…So you're friends with Yokozawa-san?" At this mention, brown eyes started to sparkle with joy.

"Yep! He's really close with papa!" The brunet blinked twice at her sudden mood change as she continued. "He was the one who first showed me the macarons. Whenever he came over, we cooked together and played with Sora-chan!"

"Sora-chan?"

Hiyori happily smiled. "He's an old black cat. He used to be Yokozawa onii-chan's but now he lives at our house. Yokozawa onii-chan didn't like Sora-chan being left all alone because of work so he brought him to our house! But Papa keeps trying to feed him treats even though he'd already gotten so fat. He's on a special diet though!"

A flash of realization crossed Ritsu's eyes as he figured out who the black cat really was. "Heh." The brunet started to chuckle.

"Why are you laughing, Ricchan?"

"You're so cute."

Hiyori's cheeks went red. "Eh?! You're just like Papa and Yokozawa onii-chan!" Shaking her head, the blushing girl held her small hands to her round cheeks. "It's so embarrassing whenever somebody calls me cute…"

"How is it embarrassing?"

"Hasn't anybody ever called you cute before?"

Recalling what happened back at his apartment, the man slightly flinched. "…Point taken."

Seeing a woman walk down the hallway, Ritsu called out to her. "Excuse me, is the bathroom on this floor?"

"Sorry, it's right above us on the next floor. The elevator is right there though." Shaking her head, the woman pointed to the nearby elevator.

"Oh, thank you."

"Thank you!"

Being lucky, the doors opened as the duo neared. Walking inside, Ritsu pressed the button for the 11th floor and waited for the doors to close. "Ricchan, I've been wondering for a while but I was too scared to ask Papa or onii-chan." He looked down at her before she continued. "When do you know somebody's in love?"

"…?!" Doing a double take, Ritsu stuttered as he responded. "W-why are you asking that kind of question?"

The brunette shrugged her thin shoulders. "It feels like Papa and onii-chan are in love. Ever since we had onii-chan, Papa looked so much happier. I thought he was happy because he's not lonely now but I don't think it's that anymore. I think it's love."

"You don't care that they're both men?"

The girl warmly smiled as she looked at the metallic doors closing. "Not really. They're precious to me so I want them to be happy…"

The brunet scratched his head as he tried to figure out what to say. "…Well, Hiyori I'm not really close with either of them but…I think you can tell somebody is in love when they're always thinking about that person. Always worrying about them, missing them when they're not around, being happy when they're with you, stuff like that…" Ritsu's face slightly got red as he spoke.

When the doors open, the duo spot the bathroom signs and the respective rooms just a little bit down the hall. Before going into the bathroom, Hiyori hands off her bag of macarons to Ritsu.

As she did her business Ritsu just leaned against the creamy colored walls and stared down at the carpet. "…Love, huh? Maybe it's about time I told Takano-san." A heavy blush overtook the brunet's small face.

"God, I can just feel my back giving out tomorrow morning…"

* * *

…..

"…Is there a problem?" Slightly tapping his shoe in frustration, Yanase looked up at Mino, still standing nearby.

"Huh? What do you mean?" The taller brunet had innocently asked. Ever since the little girl handed off the macarons, the man had stayed nearby Yanase as Yoshino and Hatori went over to the side of the room to have a chat with Isaka.

Realizing that he technically had the right to stand wherever he wanted, Yanase awkwardly turned away. "…Never mind."

"Heh, you're so cute."

The shorter man's ears perked at the last word. "Cute?" He frowned as the weird man smiled at him. "How the hell am I cute?" On occasion, Yanase would deal with men who would try to pick him up and he would just brush them off but he found this particular man to be oddly different. He knew the way the man had said it came off as a compliment but it was more innocent than most compliments Yanase got from perverted men.

"You just are." Mino slightly shrugged as he pulled out a business card. "I'm Kanade Mino by the way. It's a pleasure to meet you."

Finding himself stuck, Yanase took the business card as he handed his own to Mino. "… I'm Yanase Yuu." Looking at the brunet's business card, garnet eyes blinked twice. "Emerald? You're with the shoujo manga department?"

* * *

….

Finally realizing that the girl was left alone, Kirishima and Yokozawa started to search the reception hall for Hiyori. "Hiyori? Hiyori?" Realizing that she wasn't anywhere within the room, Kirishima gripped the side of his head as he chastised himself. "Why the hell did I let her out of my sight?!" The two men stood in the back corner of the room, away from most of the guests as their eyes combed through it.

Trying to calm him down, Yokozawa patted him on the back as he noticed Kisa and Yukina walking towards them. "Have you two seen Hiyori, by any chance?"

Masamune walked up to them as well. "What about Onodera? I can't find him either."

"Oh, that girl and Onodera-san were looking for you guys. They gave us some macarons before they disappeared." Yukina said as he finished his last macaron.

"Macarons?" Yokozawa blinked twice at the mention. Normally he gave them to Hiyori whenever he came over to visit the Kirishima house so just the mere word gave him a slight smile of nostalgia.

Kisa let a dumb smile cross his face. "They're so good!" After getting the initial macarons, both Yukina and Kisa managed to get more from the caterers' table before they had gone back to their original spot.

Mino chuckled at Kisa's expression as he walked up to them. "That cute little girl carried around a bunch of them in a bag." Standing nearby him was Yanase. After having a small chat, Yanase found himself to like Mino, at least to the point where he could manage a decent conversation. However, the only reason he followed him was because he wanted to finish their conversation.

"Any idea where they went?" Masamune sighed as he realized they weren't really giving him any direction on where his lover is.

A flash recollection crossed Yanase's eyes. "I remember seeing those two head out the door before one of those weird guys tried to stop them, but-"

Everybody stopped when they heard Masamune's phone go off. He raised an eyebrow at the caller ID. "Onodera?" Pressing the talk button, the amber eyed man proceeded to speak. "Oi, Onodera where the hell are you?"

"Can you ask him if Hiyori is with him?"

"Oh." Masamune blinked twice before handing it to Kirishima. "Here you go."

"Eh?" Even though he was momentarily confused, Kirishima took the phone and pressed it against his ear, only to wince at the volume.

_"Papa, where did you and onii-chan go?!"_

The crowd of men listening in on the phone call snickered at the girl's shout. "…Sorry, Hiyo. I guess we got a little distracted. Are you alright?"

_"Yep! Me and Ricchan started talking about macarons and he helped me look for you before I had to go to the bathroom._

Masamune raised an eyebrow. "…Ricchan?"

Chuckling, Kirishima spoke. "And where's the bathroom?"

_"It's a floor over the party. Right now, Ricchan and I are trying to look for the stairs. It's so hard to find them! "_

The wavy haired man slightly cocked his head back in confusion, as did other men listening in on the call. "Stairs? Why are you looking for the stairs? Wouldn't it be better to find an elevator?"

_"When we came back to the elevator we tried to press the button to go back down but it stopped working. We found another elevator but that stopped working too! I wanted to find another elevator but Ricchan said it'd be safer to take the stairs if the rest of the elevators are going to stop working too."_

Surprised at this brand of information, Yokozawa turned to Kirishima. "The hell is going on with the elevators?" Everybody knew the building was fairly well maintained so the concept of the elevators not working was bizarre.

His lover shrugged. "Hiyori, I agree with him. You should-" Kirishima was cut off by Hiyori's little chirp.

_"Oh, Ricchan there's someone over there! Maybe he knows! Huh? He looks like one of those weird people at the doors of the party."_

Kirishima blinked twice. "Those people?"

Yanase turned towards the main entrance. "She means them?"

_"I remember now…" _He murmured.

_"Ricchan?" _

_"Hiyori, tell them to get everybody out of the building!" _Everybody blinked twice.

_"Huh?"_

_"You over there!" _The men flinched at the sudden outburst of the new deep voice.

_"Run!"_ Panting echoed throughout the phone as the men grew worried.

"Hiyori, what's going on?!"

Still running, Hiyori could only speak between breaths._ "Papa… that person…" _

_"Look out!" _Ritsu cried out.

Everybody went wide eyed when they momentarily heard the girl give out a small cry before several thuds filled the background. "Hi… yori?"

In the background was the sounds of a struggle as the little girl's voice weakly came through. _"Ahh... that hurt…"_

"Hiyori, what happened?!"

Her shaky, far away voice was enough to let everybody know that the phone had slipped out of her hand from the ambush. _"A-another person…" _

_"Agh!" _The distant brunet let out a pain filled cry, causing Masamune to flinch.

_"Ricchan!"_

Kisa slightly shook from the sounds. "They're just messing with us… right?" Everybody just looked at him for a moment before an unfamiliar voice came out.

_"Get the girl!"_

_"Run Hiyori…!"_ Ritsu had forced out.

_"B-but I… ah!" _There was a heavy set of footsteps followed by another struggle as Hiyori started to yell. _"Let go of me! That hurts! Let go-" _Yokozawa and Kirishima were ready to bolt out of the room to look for the stairs until they heard the next part of the duo's struggle.

_"Shut up!"_ Yelled the deep voice.

All of the men held their mouths open as they heard a heavy slap followed by a thud.

_"Ah…"_

_"Tsk. Brat."_

_"Hiyori!" _The struggling in the background had gotten stronger as a repeat of punches was heard followed by some grunts, an echoing crack, and then a thud.

The eavesdropping men thought of the worst until they heard the brunet's outburst. _"Get back here, you bastard!"_ A rapid set of footsteps approached before there was a firm shatter of what sounded like glass.

_"Gah..!" _Another struggle ensued before there was a thud.

_Beep… beep… beep…_

The line had cut off, leaving the men stunned.

* * *

**A/N: What do you think? Sorry if Ritsu seemed a little ooc in that last part... From what I could gather from the anime and manga, Ritsu seemed protective of women and I like to think that he would go berserk if he saw somebody hit a little girl. **

**Sorry Hiyori :(**

**It also makes me kind of upset when I read other fics and they show scenes where Ritsu can't fend for himself. Come on! From what I saw of the manga, he had a little muscle on him, not as much as Takano but still! He should be able to beat someone up! Sorry for my mini rant...**

**Everybody might seem kind of ooc as this goes on, particularly because of the fact nobody's ever seen the characters in a life or death situation.**

**Please Review!**


	2. Terror

**A/N: So here's my next chapter... sorry for the wait! I also want to thank everybody for the lovely reviews, follows, and favorites. I literally had to hold back squeals whenever I got a new one!**

**I had to cut this chapter in half because the word count got too high... *Cough* More reviews please! *Cough***

** Thinking the plotline over, I realized that this fic might be longer than four chapters, I'm not sure how long it's going to be but my maximum estimate will be seven chapters. Sorry if it might seem a little dragged out!**

**Sorry for any errors in here. I'm my own editor, you know!**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

After that bone-chilling phone call, the entire group of men turned towards the doors where the odd men had stood moments ago, however they were nowhere to be found. Nobody realized how large the hotel truly was until everybody started to split up and search for the stairs, forgetting what the brunet had previously yelled over the phone. Each person ran around through the various halls but found no trace of the stairs. At this point, they could all understand Hiyori's frustration from when she mentioned how it was so hard to find them.

Exasperated, Masamune headed back to the reception hall, hoping that one of the others had found the stairs. He stopped in his tracks when he heard his phone go off. "Unknown number?"

Figuring he has nothing to lose, the amber-eyed man pressed the talk button and curiously held the phone to his ear. "Hello? Onodera?!" He yelled. Unbeknownst to him, the other searchers were all within earshot and started running towards him. "What the hell happened?! You and that girl scared the shit out of us with that call!"

_"Sorry…"_

Hearing his outburst, Yokozawa and Kirishima bolted in from the nearby hall. "How's Hiyori?!" They had both immediately assumed that Ritsu and Hiyori were with Masamune until they saw the man on the phone. They dejectedly lean against the wall as the amber-eyed man made his way over to them to make sure they were within earshot of the call.

Catching what they had said, Ritsu calmly replied. _"She's fine… but she passed out though. She's still unconscious but it looks like she's going to wake up soon." _Relief streamed across the worried men's faces as Masamune furrowed his eyebrows.

"What the hell happened? Where are you now?" At this point, all of the others who had gone out to search have come back to meet up at the front of the reception hall, Yokozawa filled them in on what is currently going on as Ritsu replied to Masamune's question.

_"…We were attacked. I found an empty room and we're hiding in here. My phone broke and I'm using the one in the hotel room."_

"Which room? We're coming to get you!"

_"No!"_ Everybody blinked twice from his odd outburst before Ritsu continued._ "The people who attacked us were carrying guns. I don't know how many others are walking around on this floor… but I sure as hell don't want you to come up here only to get shot!"_

Kisa visibly shook at the concept of someone carrying a gun in the building. "Getting shot? Ricchan can't be serious…"

Masamune went pale at his current thought. Yokozawa and Kirishima also went pale at the thought of Hiyori being within the shooting range of a gun. "Onodera were you…"

The brunet on the other line had cut him off as he hastily assured him. _"I'm fine!" _However, that made everybody know for sure what had most likely happened after the line was cut off earlier. Masamune clenched his fist at the thought of what kind of asshole would dare to harm his beloved.

Masamune raised an eyebrow when he heard some kind of distinct shuffling sound coming from the other end of the phone. "What's that sound?"

_"Oh, those were the guys who attacked us. They're in the closet."_ He had calmly stated. However, this threw everybody else off guard.

"Hah?!"

Confused by their reaction, Ritsu started to explain. _"Well, it'd be more of a problem if I left them collapsed in the hallway for their friends to find them. We still have no idea where the stairs are. I found some duct tape on them and they're all tied up now. Well, we still made a mess in the hallway…" _

"Wow…" Still astonished, everybody stood there momentarily stunned before Mino mumbled to himself. "Duct tape?"

Realizing Mino's confusion from the mention of the item, Yanase asked himself. "Why the hell would they be carrying duct tape?"

Not hearing what they said, Masamune slightly chuckled at his thoughts. "…You're handling this surprisingly well, Onodera. I never thought you could beat up bad guys, let alone armed bad guys. From what we heard on the phone it sounded like you got beat up." Everyone slowly nodded in agreement.

At first glance, Ritsu seemed like the type who had never fought a day in his life, what with his lean build and pretty face. Most of the men in the group were already aware that he came from a rich family and automatically assumed that he probably never learned how to defend himself. How wrong they were…

Masamune smirked at the thought of Ritsu blushing in embarrassment from his comment. However he felt a pang in his chest realizing that Ritsu most likely took a lot of damage from the fight. _"Hey! Do you have any idea how hard it is to fight in the hallway with Hiyori nearby? I thought it'd be a better choice to run since Hiyori was with me…" _All of the men slowly nodded at his reasonable argument. They immediately realized that considering how narrow the hallways were, there was the possibility that Hiyori could have gotten caught up in the struggle._ "Those guys weren't the type to consider a little girl's safety…"_ Everybody grimaced at the memory of hearing what sounded like a tackle followed by one of the men slapping Hiyori.

Yokozawa deeply furrowed his eyebrows and narrowed his sharp eyes in fury. "When I get my hands on those bastards…" He silently hissed to himself, Kirishima and Masamune were the only ones to notice. The three held a silent agreement that the moment that they meet their beloveds' supposed attackers, there shall be more than just them saying 'uncle'.

Light brown eyes blinked twice as Yukina looked down at his beloved. "Wait, Kisa-san. Did you notice them too? From before?"

The little raven tilted his head. "You mean when they were staring at them? It wasn't just me…?" The tall and sparkly brunet nodded as everybody turned to them, questions surfacing through their worried eyes.

"When those weird guys were still at the door I noticed that they kept stealing looks at Ricchan and Hiyo-chan throughout the party…" Kisa gave a sigh. "I thought it was just my imagination…" He mentally slapped himself at the fact that he should've brought it up earlier.

Mino lightly rubbed the base of his sturdy chin with his long fingers as he thought back on what he heard just now and over the previous call. He slightly gasped as he turned to Masamune and Kirishima. "…Wouldn't that mean they planned to abduct Onodera-kun and Hiyori-chan?"

Masamune almost dropped the phone at the suggestion. "…What?" Kirishima and Yokozawa slightly hung their mouths open as everybody stared at Mino. Giving aid to his argument, Yanase pointed out that the strange men also tried to stop them at the doors when they left for the bathroom. Remembering everything previously mentioned, everybody grew more surprised at the now reasonable deduction.

Shocked, Kisa slapped his hands to his pale cheeks. "Eh?! Kidnapping…?!" Everybody turned to him in the surprising realization. However, before anybody could say anything else, Ritsu cut them off.

_"Wait… haven't you told anybody to get out of the building yet?!"_

"What?" At that point, everyone flinches as they heard a loud gunshot coming from the reception hall.

They turn to see one of the strange men in the room, holding a light machine gun towards the ceiling. "Everybody get on the ground!" However nobody moved as they looked at the man in shock.

"Oh my god… he has a gun…"

"Agh!" At the sound of a yell, everybody turned to see the other man grab one of the guests.

"Yoshino!" Hatori had cried out.

As it turned out, the guest that the man grabbed was Yoshino. "…Chi… aki?" Garnet eyes had gone wide as Yanase saw Yoshino's captor pull out a pistol and pressed it against his temple.

"Everybody get on the fucking ground!" The hostage winced as the man pressed the gun against the side of his head even harder. "Unless you want me to kill this guy right here!"

At this point everybody in the room snapped out of it and hastily put up their hands before shuffling down to the floor. Small murmurs of terrified disbelief filled the room as everybody worriedly looked at the gun still being held to Yoshino's head.

The men outside the hall heard a couple of clicks. They all turned around to see a group of more men that looked like the odd ones who were previously at the doors, all of which held light machine guns pointed at them. "Get inside!" The shocked captives raised up their arms in surrender as they were steadily forced into the room.

* * *

….

Hearing the background noise, the brunet just face palmed as the line was cut off. "Great… they hadn't told anyone… just great…"

"…Planned to abduct us… huh?" The brunet sighed as he shifted on the plush bed.

Ritsu momentarily rubbed his aching throat as he looked around the large and warmly colored hotel room, holding a white keycard with the room's number that allowed him to enter. Hiyori's unconscious form was splayed out on the soft bed as the criminals in the closet that the brunet had incapacitated did a few grunts to try to break free of their restraints but it was no use for them.

Even though most of the fancy rooms would be on the upper floors, he was surprised when he found this one, empty but obviously stocked with everything one could need. When he had first found it, he already had Hiyori in his arms and quickly put her on the large bed before he dragged the two assailants into the room, conveniently finding the roll of duct tape in the bags one of them were carrying.

Searching through their stuff and person as they had lain unconscious, the brunet had found two pistols, a taser, and two stun grenades. They didn't use them in the original scuffle but the men had also carried light machine guns on their backs, which the brunet obviously confiscated.

Knowing that if their friends were as heavily equipped as these two, the brunet was pretty sure he couldn't take them head on without worrying about getting more damage. In the narrowness of the hallway, the brunet knew that the only way to get Hiyori away from danger was to run. Had it been a more open space, the brunet knew he would've had a better chance to protect Hiyori by fighting.

Looking at the unconscious brunette, the worried young man checked yet again to make sure there was no bruising on either side of Hiyori's head. There was no visible damage but he couldn't help but be a worrywart in times like these.

"Ngh…" The unconscious girl started to shift about, earning a sigh of relief from the brunet. Her eyelids slightly clenched before dully opening to reveal chocolaty brown eyes. "Ric…chan?" A raspy voice came out. She slightly turned her small head to see Ritsu worriedly looking her over. Hiyori slowly sat up as she looked down at herself and around the vacant hotel room. Her soft brown hair fell over her thin shoulders as she noticed the hem of her ruffled red dress had a small tear.

Noticing that she didn't say anything else, Ritsu tried to ask to make sure. "Hiyori, are you alright? How's your head?" Back in the hallway, when the assailant had slapped Hiyori on the side of head, Ritsu knew that it was highly likely that the force of the hit could've done some damage for a girl of Hiyori's size. Well, he knew that the dense vase that he used on her attacker's head had done way more damage to him than the slap to Hiyori.

"…It hurts a little bit, but I'll be alright." The brunette slightly rubbed her aching head but smiled at the man in reassurance before her eyes widened. "Ricchan! Your shoulder!" Ritsu turned to his right shoulder to finally notice the small gash that cut all the way through his jacket and to the skin. Since his jacket was black, it could only be told from his white undershirt that he was, in fact, bleeding.

Looking at the blood, the brunet recalled that when he fought the second man, he had pulled out a pistol on him, letting a round go off before the editor knocked his lights out.

It was actually due to that struggle that the suspicious keycard fell out of the assailant's pocket, saving the duo from the risk of getting attacked by anymore enemies. However, he had to wonder why the man even had this room in the first place. Well, he knew that each card can only open one specific room, so there was no way anybody else could barge in unless they were the hotel's manager.

Oddly enough, it seemed like there was nobody else on the floor considering the amount of struggling from the fight. However, Ritsu didn't want to risk anybody coming up here to rescue them if there were a slim chance of some other enemy hidden on the floor. It's not like anybody can come for them now though…

With all of the adrenaline still pumping through his body, he still hasn't felt any pain from his injuries. "It's only a small cut. I can just wash it off."

The little girl pulled out a deep frown and propped her hands on her thin hips. "It'll get infected! We also have to treat those bruises!" The man slightly flinched from the scolding before Hiyori looked around the hotel room. "Are there any first-aid kits in here?"

"It might be in the bathroom, let me go check. Oh yeah, stay away from the closet. Those men are in there. They're still tied up but they might do something if you get too close." The brunet was sure that the incapacitated men were still weak after he had gone mental but you could never be too careful.

"Right…" Obviously still frightened at the memory of when they were attacked, the little brunette unconsciously shuffled away from the vicinity of the closet.

Walking into the reasonably sized bathroom, Ritsu momentarily grimaced as he looked in the mirror. He was slightly confused before when Hiyori had mentioned the bruises, but looking at the mirror now, he could tell how prominent they were. On his neck were a set of finger markings to show that he was strangled, obviously not to death. On his pale face was a spot bruising on his left cheekbone from his ambusher.

He knew a lot of force was applied when the man that ambushed him and Hiyori from an adjacent hallway as they bolted away from the other assailant. Pushing her out of the way as he was tackled to the solid wall, the brunet was pretty sure that bruises would be covering his body in bumpy blue within the next day.

Ritsu grimaced at the thought of what might've happened to Hiyori had he not pushed her out of the way and took some of the damage from that heavy tackle. However, with the amount of damage he had administered to the two foes, he knew they were going to be worse off in the morning.

He opened up the cabinet over the sink to see various items inside. "There's some antibiotics and gauze in here…" He nodded in approval before he saw a suspicious-looking glass bottle. "Huh? Why are there anesthetics here?" He knew for sure that a hotel would never allow something like anesthetics within one of its rooms. So the obvious assumption was that the renter of the room had brought it in.

He grabbed for the keycard in his pocket. "This was that man's room…" He slightly shook the brown bottle in his hand to feel the liquid sloshing about inside. "What the hell were they planning to do with us?" He thought back on what Mino mentioned over the phone.

_"…Wouldn't that mean they planned to abduct Onodera-kun and Hiyori-chan?"_

"No way…" Emerald eyes widened at the stunning realization before the little girl's voice chirped in.

"Ricchan, did you find anything?"

* * *

….

Back in the reception hall, all of the captive guests are on the ground, cowering in fear as the hostile men surrounded them. They all carried their light machine guns, pointed at the crowd and ready to fire in case of any disturbances.

"All of you! Turn off your cell phones and stay on the ground!"

Everybody immediately complied by taking out their cell phones, showing that they're being turned off before leaving them on the floor. Clutching his head, Kisa repeatedly shook. "This isn't happening…" Frowning at his lover's panicked state, Yukina held him close. "It's going to be alright, Kisa-san."

Yokozawa, bull-headed as he usually was, was originally going to demand that these men let them go. However, Kirishima was one step ahead of him and kept one hand on his broad shoulder to make sure he didn't pull anything stupid like that. But his free fist had knuckles turning white at the thought that these men were responsible for endangering Hiyori and possibly Yokozawa in the current situation.

As much as he wished for Hiyori to be with him right now, Kirishima knew his daughter would be a lot safer with Onodera. With a room full of gunmen versus a room with a couple of incapacitated men, he knew what the better choice was for her. The only question now would be if they could hold out.

He clenched his teeth.

If what the Emerald editor had deduced earlier were somehow true, then he knew that there was a possibility that more of these strange people would come after them. _"But why…?"_ Is the follow up question he's been asking himself the entire time.

"Looks like this party's gone really downhill…" Mino had calmly said. Even though he wasn't smiling like he usually did, it seemed like he was taking the entire situation more easily than the rest of his fellow hostages.

Yanase momentarily nodded at his statement but still shook in fear as he saw that Yoshino was still in the most precarious position of the hostages. Even though it was obvious nobody had a plan to rebel against the terrorists, the one man still thought it best to keep the secretive mangaka in his arms.

"L-let go of me!" Yoshino cried out. Even though there was a gun held to his head, the man still found the urge to fight out of his captor's grip. Grabbing the strong arm wrapped around his thin shoulders, Yoshino started to tug at it for freedom.

"Hold still!" The hostages watched in utter terror, all eyes focusing on the gun that has yet to go off.

"Chiaki… don't!"

"No!" The dark haired man vigorously shook his body as he tried to get out of his captor's hold. "It hurts! Let go of me!" Getting out of his grip, Yoshino pushed him away with enough force to trip over himself as he fell backwards.

"Dammit…!" A single gunshot accidentally went off as the mangaka's eyes widened. Most of the women in the room screamed in response.

"Ah…" A small splatter of blood hit the ground as Yoshino followed suit, with a _thud_. Blood started protruding from the side of his stomach as he lay on the darkening crimson carpet.

"Yoshino!"

"Chiaki!" All of the gunmen in the room momentarily held their guns up at Yanase and Hatori as they ran to Yoshino's aid but visibly relaxed as they were sure that the hostages weren't going to be hostile. The two tried to call for the wounded man's name but he didn't respond.

"Blood… there's blood…" Some of the terrified women nearby had clung to each other as they squeamishly looked at the red liquid slipping out of Yoshino's wound. The rest of the people in the vicinity slightly grimaced at the metallic smell of iron coming through.

"Tsk. You should've held still."

"…!" Hatori gritted his teeth as he stood up to face the armed man. However, he didn't go all the way up before Yanase quickly grabbed his arm, tears in his ruby eyes. "Hatori, do you think Chiaki wants you to get shot too?!" As much as Yanase disliked the editor, he clearly didn't hate him to the point where he would let the man get himself killed by doing something stupid and irrational. Even if Hatori could take out the guy that shot his beloved, there's still the issue of the many other gunmen in the room. Still clenching his fists, the angry man went back down to kneel at his lover's side.

"Oh god… this is seriously not happening…"

A shaky hand went to Yoshino's bloody side before Hatori froze. Small beads of water were at the corners of sharp blue eyes as he looked at his lover's painful expression. Yoshino's thin chest was still rising, however rapidly. "Yoshino…" Just the mere sight gave the usually stoic editor knots in his stomach.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing?!" Yelled out one of the perpetrators.

Everybody turned to see the president of the company walking over to them, not flinching at the guns pointed at him. "Isaka… san?"

"Ryuuichiro-sama…"

"…" Grabbing some nearby napkins, Isaka kneeled at Yoshino's side as he proceeded to button open his slightly bloody jacket. Everybody watched the president in surprise before he spoke.

"…Hatori, it won't do you any good if you just freeze up like that. People are more durable against bullets than you might think but it'd be best to treat the bleeding as soon as possible, right?"

"Right…"

Snapping out of it, Hatori helped to open up the jacket and slightly grimaced at the bloody wound. However, a sign of relief crossed Isaka's eyes. "It looks like that bullet just nicked the side of his stomach. He probably passed out from the shock." Taking the napkins, he pressed towards the wound before he let Hatori take over. "He's still bleeding but it won't put his life in danger for a while." Hatori and Yanase held a sigh of relief, along with the other captives in the room.

Isaka turned his gaze towards Yoshino's attacker, with a dark glint in his eyes. "So… why the hell are you here?" He venomously hissed. Surprisingly, the nearby terrorist backed away as he kept his gun pointed towards the president before letting what seemed like the group's leader come forward.

The leader darkly grinned as his ice cold eyes scanned the crowd. "Not yet…"

* * *

**A/N: And so ends this chapter! Everything will be explained for the reasons why they wanted to kidnap Ritsu and Hiyori as this goes on. **

**Also, I wanted to refer to what Isaka mentioned about getting shot. People really are more durable against bullets than you might think! It's not like in the movies where you're dead before you hit the ground! I've heard of cases where people got shot in the stomach and managed to wait for three days before they headed off to the hospital. They lived...**

**Remember that!**

**Review responses:**

**E- Thanks for that piece of information! I did realize that this was kind of cliched but I wanted to make it as reasonable as possible with how everybody managed to show up at the same area.**

**Kitkat1395- Thank you for that compliment! My top priority always seems to be the dialogue. I have the belief that the only way people will really believe in the characters is if the way they speak is as realistic as possible. Then comes the interactions of course, such as Kirishima and Yokozawa! I love them so much!**

**Guest- Here's an answer for what you mentioned about Hiyori. I'm really glad how you pointed it out that Kirishima really would normally have her stay with his parents. But I made it so that the party was around seven at night. I remember hearing from somewhere that it was normal for Asian children to follow their biological alarm clocks and most would have a bedtime at around ten. Technically, since Kirishima and Yokozawa were also star employees, their jobs wouldn't be in danger if they left early for Hiyori. Thanks for that insight though!**

**...**

**I'm actually kind of tired so I won't be able to answer everybody else's comments. Sorry! But I do want to give a shout out to Cookiethug and Hiyokocchi for sticking to all of my other stories! :D**


	3. Hidden Penalty

**A/N: Hey there, everybody! Thanks for all of the favorites, follows, and reviews! They really mean a lot! :D**

**Here's another long chappie for you all!**

**Sorry for any errors I might have missed during my edits...**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Sekaiichi Hatsukoi**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Back in the warmly lit hotel room, the duo is on the plush bed with Ritsu's damaged jacket off. He had pulled back the bloody sleeve of his underlying white button up shirt to reveal the bloody gash on his shoulder. He originally didn't want to let the little girl administer first-aid considering he thought that Hiyori wouldn't be pleased with the sight of blood. However, the girl was surprisingly mature as she managed to clean away the blood and dressed the bullet wound on his shoulder. As she did her work, Ritsu held up a refrigerated water bottle to his bruised cheek. Hiyori slightly frowned that they couldn't find anything else to help with the bruising but it was better than nothing.

He slightly winced as she used the antibiotic spray on his gash but quickly got over it as Hiyori wrapped the gauze over the wound. "All done!" The brunet thanked her before Hiyori momentarily jumped, worry in her brown eyes. "But we should get downstairs! I bet everybody is worried about us…" The little girl frowned at the thought of her precious father and Yokozawa onii-chan being so worried for her.

Ritsu slightly grimaced as he remembered the phone call from earlier. "…I think we're going to have to be careful, Hiyori. Do you remember those people who were at the doors of the party?"

"…!" The little girl gasped in realization. "Then that means that everybody at the party is in danger! Papa and Yokozawa onii-chan too! Shouldn't we call for the police?"

Ritsu immediately assured her that everybody's going to be fine since he called the authorities before he made to call his boss to assure that they're both fine. However, he knew there could still be problems even with the aid of the police.

A hint of confidence came through the little girl's soft eyes as she knocked on the door of the closet with her small hand, shaking. "…W-why did you attack us? We didn't do anything to you…" However, long brown hair swished to the side as she slightly tilted her head in confusion when there was no response.

Telling her to step back, Ritsu slowly opened the door to reveal their assailants still tied up and showing their faces literally covered in bruises. They were both conscious, but obviously refused to cooperate. On the man that had slapped Hiyori were a few shards imbedded in his cheek from the vase Ritsu had used on him. Hiyori slightly winced at all the damage but didn't motion to comment.

"Does this belong to you?" Ritsu held up the bottle of the paralyzing drug he had found in the bathroom cabinet.

"…!"Both men reacted at the sight but didn't say anything. However, that was enough to let Ritsu know.

"This is a bit of a long shot answer but… human trafficking… you were trying to kidnap the two of us while everybody else is held hostage downstairs, right? After you got whatever you demanded from the authorities… you and your group would've run off with us to be..." One of the men shifted his dark eyes to the side, letting the brunet know his answer.

"…Wow, I got it right." The brunet had solemnly said as he had hoped that he was wrong. Ritsu somewhat realized this when they were attacked in the hallway, but had thought himself as just being paranoid. He knew these men might've also had 'other' plans for the two before being brought to the group if they rented this room but didn't want to bring it up with Hiyori still within earshot.

Ritsu grimaced at the thought that some other people who were wandering in the hotel by themselves might've gotten into similar situations…

However, there's one big thing that Ritsu had noticed by the way these men had looked at and fought him. It was obvious at this point that it was planned that he and Hiyori were supposed to be among the ones to be taken. The way they were stopped at the doors before leaving the party and the way the first assailant had charged after them was enough to let him know that for a fact.

But the fact remained that these traffickers had no idea who he was…

_"I guess that's an advantage I can use… for now, at least…"_

Brown eyes blinked twice as Hiyori curiously looked up at Ritsu. "Human trafficking? I've never heard of that. Ricchan, how do you know that? You know what these people are after?" Ritsu sighed in response as he closed the door on the weakened enemies.

"It's a long story…"

_"I guess I really can't escape the past…" _He solemnly thought to himself.

The two slightly jump when they hear rapid knocking followed by a cry for help.

"Hey! Is anybody in here?! Please open up!" Ritsu and Hiyori momentarily look at each other in confusion as the frantic knocking persists. "Please! Some weird guy is chasing me!"

* * *

…..

Back in the reception hall, the current captives all watch in shock as various people, who seem to be the hotel's inhabitants, are forced into the room. Many of them sniffled in fear as they joined their fellow hostages, nervously waiting for whatever fate is befalling them.

Dark combat boots stepping up onto the wooden stage at the back of the warmly lit room, the leader's short jet black hair eerily shone in the light as his calculatingly cold blue eyes scanned over the new hostages. His intimidating stature, being 196 centimeters, allowed him to be the tallest man in the room. It was clear that the man was very fit, what with his muscular torso being contained in his earthy green military-styled jacket. With his sun-kissed skin and strong facial features, it was easy to say that this handsome person was indeed a foreigner. If it weren't for all of the men surrounding the group of captives with deadly weapons, most of the women would've considered the leader to be an ideal boyfriend.

Finally opening his mouth, he released a deep and thundering voice. "Attention! Everybody from the tenth to the twentieth floor will be moved to this and the neighboring reception hall!" The leader wore a microphone headset on his ear that seemed to link up to all of the speakers throughout the hotel.

"I want to go home…" One of the women had sniffled out.

"We'll be checking from room to room! Anybody who is trying to escape or resist will be executed!"

Everybody in the room visibly stiffened, causing the leader to darkly smirk at their reactions. "What?!" In that moment, everybody's minds flashed back to the phone call. At this point, they started to grow even more confused about these strange men's goals considering their planned abduction of Ritsu and Hiyori.

With that final announcement, the terrified chatter had escalated. Annoyed, one of the gunmen had aimed his gun towards the ceiling, pulling the trigger. "Shut up!" A heavy _bang_ rung out before some of the women in the room screeched. However, the rest of the people immediately reduced their chatter to the bare minimum, still sitting back in fear.

Looking around, Hatori finally realized that Ritsu was nowhere to be seen. "Takano-san, where is Onodera?"

After the initial shooting scare, the whereabouts of his coworker was the last thing on Hatori's mind as he continued to monitor Yoshino. The injured man was slightly pale but lost a minimal amount of blood as he lay unconscious. Undeterred by the blood, Hatori kept his sluggishly reddening cloth on Yoshino's wound to make for certain that he didn't get any worse.

The Emerald editor-in-chief slowly tugged his legs towards his chest as he sat on the soft carpet, not making eye contact with anyone. "…Hopefully, he's safe."

Even though he seemed somewhat stable on the outside, Yokozawa could tell with one look that the amber-eyed man was a wreck on the inside. He's obviously already aware of their relationship and how much he cherished the young editor, so the amount of worry after that last announcement must be escalating. Hell, the same applied to everybody else who listened to the phone call. Just looking at Yoshino's current state made Masamune feel nauseous at the thought of his beloved having a bullet go through his body...

In fact, he was about to bolt up from where he sat before Isaka, who moved to sit next to him after helping with Yoshino's bullet wound, had placed a hand on his broad shoulder. Masamune turned to see the president with a confident gleam in his sapphire eyes.

"If it's nanahikari you're worrying about, you shouldn't… if it's him…"

Asahina, his secretary, also nodded at his statement. After that dangerous move of walking across the room amidst the armed men, the secretary made it a case of he's not going to allow his secret lover to do anything like that again by keeping him close. "A word of advice, don't mention his name while these men are here for his sake."

Isaka slightly chuckled as he looked at the various gunmen surrounding the group. "From the looks of it, they still haven't realized it. These guys wouldn't be so calm if they did."

Everybody else within earshot looked at the president and his secretary in utter confusion. "What do you-" Masamune was cut off by a third voice.

"Isaka-san?" At the sound of the familiar voice, the new president turned to see Akihiko calmly walking into the room along with the new hostages.

"Akihiko? You actually showed up?" The terrified workers of Marukawa stared in awe as they saw the infamous writer walk over to where Isaka sat. He sighed as he sat next to him.

"Sadly, yes." The ash blonde nodded, followed by another sigh as he looked around the packed room as if searching for something. Clad in a deep blue, single strapped dress, Aikawa shuffled herself up to her writer's side. She blinked twice as she noticed that a certain brunet wasn't with him.

"Sensei, is Misaki-kun with you?" Losing track of the duo earlier in the night, Aikawa nearly lost it when there was no sign of them when the party was still in its non-hostage situation. However, as soon as it got to this stage, the anger immediately turned to worry.

The famous writer solemnly shook his head. "No… he wandered off somewhere. I was looking for him when this happened. Dammit…"

The redhead casted her deep blue eyes downward. "Misaki…"

"…?" Noticing Yanase slightly shaking as he was turned towards Yoshino's and Hatori's direction, Mino gently tapped him on the shoulder. "Are you alright, Yanase-san?" Squinted eyes turned towards the couple and it suddenly clicked for him when he saw Hatori run his hand through the wounded man's dark hair.

After Hatori started to tend to Yoshino's wound, Yanase had slowly shifted away from them for their own, somewhat limited privacy. "Of course I am! Why wouldn't I be?" The artist had hissed. Yanase slapped away his strong hand as he kept his gaze away. However the slight turn was enough to show a single salty tear that trailed down the side of his face. "Don't touch me…" However, he was taken aback when the editor wrapped his large hand over Yanase's shimmery eyes as he gently pulled him back. "What are you…?"

"It's better if nobody sees, right?" Mino had gently whispered.

In the current situation, everybody is obviously more focused on staying alive so the concept of them being noticed was actually kind of far-off. However, if somebody did notice, it would only be chalked off as giving comfort in an unstable situation. The only ones who would think of it as anything else would be the Sapphire department fangirls. "…" Blushing, Yanase looked down before mumbling out 'weirdo' and unconsciously shifting his head in the taller man's warm hold.

"Don't worry, Kisa-san…" Yukina had softly whispered.

A similar example was of the little raven and the shoujo manga clerk. Still shaking in fear, Kisa curled up his lean legs as he let his lover pull him into his broad chest. At first, he gave some minor complaints, saying that there were so many people around. However, nobody paid them any attention as the other hostages were mainly focused on themselves. Yukina gently pointed this out as his lover's face went warm and murmured a 'thank you' before letting Yukina wrap his strong arms around his thin shoulders.

"I hope Hiyori will stay alright through this…" Kirishima had mumbled. He clutched at his wavy head of brown hair before he looked back at his beloved. He quickly grabbed Yokozawa's warm hand, holding it tightly in his grasp as Yokozawa blushed from the contact but didn't even bother to look around to check if anybody sees what they're doing.

"Promise me you won't do anything stupid, Yokozawa…" Intense worry was filling his brown eyes as they met sapphire. Kirishima knew if he wasn't around earlier for when this whole situation started, Yokozawa could've become a fellow casualty to Yoshino for when he wanted to stand up and demand that the gunmen let everybody go. The mere spine shivering thought of Yokozawa lying in a puddle of blood made the taller man extremely nauseous as he waited for his beloved to reply.

"Takafumi…"

Yokozawa immediately flinched at the use of his first name and tried to open his mouth but couldn't find the words to reply. Kirishima gritted his teeth as there was still no reply, letting his free hand attempt to grip the soft blades of fuzz from the crimson carpet. He slouched his head over, letting his broad shoulders quiver before looking back up with pain-stricken eyes. "I beg of you, please…" He begged. Fear etched into his deep voice.

At that moment, Yokozawa felt a heavy pang in his chest before finally responding. "But Hiyori might still…"

"She's better off with _him, _right now…" Kirishima remembered Asahina's previous statement about not using Ritsu's name before he continued. "We're not in any position to protect her if she was down here anyway…" With all of the gunmen still surrounding them, he knew that it's still better for Hiyori to stay with Ritsu. Actually, Kirishima also secretly wished that his beloved was also with the young editor since even the nitpicky president of the company had miraculously put his faith on his defense capabilities. Even if it meant that he'd face the situation by himself, Kirishima wouldn't mind at all.

"Just-"

Everybody in the room slightly flinched when they heard a heavy _thud_. "Was that coming from upstairs?"

A flash of realization crossed Kisa's dark eyes as he whispered to Masamune, "…Didn't Hiyo-chan say they were a floor above us?" All the previous listeners of the phone call had their eyes widen at the possible thoughts brewing through their minds. Looking at Yoshino's bullet wound, they all went pale at their new thoughts.

"You don't think…"

* * *

…

"That was a close call…" The two held a sigh of relief as the new assailant lied on the floor, unconscious.

When the editor decided to open the door to let the other man in, he had to act on his feet by turning off the lights and hiding behind the door, still unsure on whether or not the pleading man was actually telling the truth. He ordered Hiyori to hide in the bathroom and lock the door, not to allow anybody inside until he told her to do so.

When the stranger burst into the dark room, he had searched around, surprised at the vacancy of the room. However, from where Ritsu was standing, he could tell that the new figure was indeed an innocent. Most likely another victim the terrorist group intended to kidnap to be sold if he was all alone on this floor.

_"Those bastards…"_ Ritsu thought.

He knew that last announcement was a bluff for the most part, considering the nature of the group. They have no qualms about taking a life but with the police who are due to arrive soon, the terrorist group would be chased if they killed any of the hostages while in the midst of making demands. However, he knew that the people in the reception halls or in captive groups were the ones who would most likely be the ones to take any such penalty. The lone stragglers, such as the innocent man in this room would face the hidden penalty…

Ritsu had braced himself when the supposed attacker entered the room, light machine gun in hand. He was a bit heavyset and slowly motioned for his prey as he slowly backed towards the wall, finally noticing Ritsu hiding behind the door. He gave him the signal to keep quiet as the editor sneaked up on the tallest man in the room. Quickly disarming the hostile foe, Ritsu gave a strong blow to the back of his head.

The terrorist created a large _thud_ on the ground, unconscious.

Turning on the lights for the now warmly lit room with a soft click of the switch, the innocent stranger was revealed to have large, deep green eyes. His brown, messy hair was darker than Ritsu's and his soft looking skin had a slight tan. He had a slimmer build and was shorter than the editor but Ritsu momentarily blinked twice at how similar they looked.

The moment he realized he was safe, the shorter man slightly jumped for joy with sparkling eyes. "Thank you! Thank you so much!"

Ritsu slightly blushed at how forward this man was. "I-it's nothing, really." He blinked twice as he remembered that Hiyori was still in the bathroom. Calling out and stating the all clear, Hiyori came out of the bathroom and looked at the collapsed form in surprise before worriedly looking at the obviously terrified man.

"Are you alright, onii-chan?"

Surprised that a child was also hiding in the room, the young man snapped out of it. "Y-yes! I'm still shaking though…"

"…!" Hiyori gasped as she looked at the stranger's hand. "You're bleeding!" Pulling out the leftover gauze and antibiotic spray, the little girl ordered the new ally to sit on the bed as she pulled back the sleeve of the tux and started to clean out the cut on his hand.

In the meantime, Ritsu quickly searched the man to only find another pistol and a pocket knife. He found a nearby chair to put the unconscious terrorist on. Using the duct tape, the brunet quickly strapped down the man's limbs to the arms and legs of the wooden chair. Making sure he wouldn't shift around too much, he wrapped the tape around the man's thick upper arms, indefinitely restricting his movement.

Taking the newly confiscated weapons, Ritsu put them in the pile of already obtained weaponry in the corner of the room.

"I hope Usagi-san is alright…" The young man had murmured. Hearing him, Hiyori looked up and cutely tilted her head.

"A bunny?"

The dark-haired brunet slightly blushed. "…Sort of. I think he's downstairs with everybody else. Why did this have to happen?" Needless to say, the other two brunets slightly pouted as they thought the same question.

Doing the finishing touches of first-aid, Hiyori turned towards Ritsu. "Ricchan, what should we do? Some more of those bad people might come…" The stranger momentarily looked at the well applied gauze, murmuring a 'thank you' before turning to Ritsu.

"That's true. We're sitting ducks at this point." Ritsu looked at the newly incapacitated man. He was starting to stir but he probably wouldn't take another minute until so.

"S-sorry…" The young man had solemnly mumbled.

Ritsu immediately shook his head. "It's not your fault. Oh yeah, my name is Onodera Ritsu." Getting a bottle of green tea from the mini fridge, Ritsu handed it over to the stranger.

"I'm Hiyori!"

"Oh." He momentarily stared at the bottle in confusion before he took it, softly smiling. "I'm Takahashi Misaki, it's nice to meet you." The trio slightly flinched at the static-like voice coming from the assailant's radio. The incapacitated man's eyes also started to blink open from hearing the noise.

_"Report…"_

* * *

…

Back in the reception hall, one of the gunmen held the radio transceiver to the front of his mouth. "How's your patrol on the 11th and the 12th floor?" The leader's electric blue eyes constantly combed over the room's terrified inhabitants before he turned to his ally.

_"…It's all good. Not a single soul to be found."_

"Then why was there a commotion on the 11th floor? I heard a large thud from down here." Unbeknownst to him, the previous group of eavesdropping men nervously waited for the response.

_"… Ah, it was a false alarm. We thought there was someone hiding up here and we overturned everything in all the rooms. We wound up getting a bureau to fall over by accident, that's probably what you heard. The others went to patrol the upper floors." _At this mention the group of men that had previously listened in on the phone call held a sigh of relief.

"I see. Keep up the patrol and an eye out for _them_. I haven't heard from the others so those two should still be around on the upper floors." Kirishima, Yokozawa, and Masamune all gritted their teeth at the final realization that these people really did plan to abduct Hiyori and Ritsu in the midst of this situation. However, Isaka gritted his teeth for a slightly different reason.

_"…Yes, sir."_

* * *

….

Back in the hotel room, Hiyori is calmly looking out the window with Misaki right next to her to make sure she doesn't look as Ritsu held a light machine gun to one of the attackers' head. Even though it wasn't clear to Hiyori, Misaki could just feel the malevolent intent radiating off the editor as the metallic barrel of the black gun was pressed against the tied up terrorist's head.

"…Is it over?"

Ritsu slowly put down the gun. "Yeah…" He sighed in relief as he looked at the others. "We're in the clear for now…"

Dark green eyes awkwardly shifted to the dark gun in the taller man's hands. "Onodera-san, you look like you're so used to holding a gun. It terrifies me to just look at one… it also seems like you know how to fight…" Misaki had recalled when Ritsu knocked out his pursuer. To him, it seemed as if he really was trained to fight.

Ritsu slightly tilted his small head in surprise as he looked at the metallic gun he's holding. "Ah, yes. My father used to take me to shooting ranges when I was younger. He always wanted to make sure I was ready to defend myself in times like these so I also had self-defense lessons. Well, I didn't really have much of a choice back then…" A flash of what seemed like fear momentarily shone in his emerald eyes before Ritsu looked away.

"Maybe it's about time I start taking some lessons…" The shorter brunet slightly blushed at how pathetic he must've sounded when he was chased. Looking at Hiyori, Misaki grimaced at the thought of what might have happened if Ritsu didn't incapacitate the assailant. Even though it was clear that she locked herself in the bathroom, she could've still gotten in harm's way if things didn't pan out right…

"…!" Hiyori gasped in excitement. "It looks like the police are showing up!" Down below, they watched as the police cars started to line the streets surrounding the hotel. The blue and red flashes repeatedly blinked throughout the cool night sky as they watched in awe. Misaki held a sigh of relief at the sight of the reinforcements.

Ritsu slightly frowned as he saw the Special Assault Team truck arriving on to the scene. "Let's just hope they're going to be careful…"

"Eh? What do you mean?"

"Because everybody can still die, kid."

Still conscious, the incapacitated assailant smirked as he saw Hiyori's shocked expression. "Eh?!"

"Don't tell that to a little girl!" Ritsu and Misaki had both barked. As much as Misaki is terrified of the man, letting him just say something like that to a young girl infuriates him.

The terrorist scoffed. "Like I care." Ritsu's immediate response was a glare of utter hatred that sent chills down the man's spine.

"…"

"Ricchan, what do we do? Papa and Yokozawa onii-chan are still down there…" The little girl bit her lip as she started to shake. "I don't want everybody to die…" Trails of water spilled down the sides of her reddish cheeks as she hastily wiped them away. She slightly flinched as she felt a warm hand on her head.

Ritsu crouched down as he assured her. "It's going to be ok, Hiyori. I have an idea but… that should be used for a worst case scenario."

"What kind of idea?"

The tall brunet sighed as he shook his head. He looked at the glass bottle that he found in the cabinet earlier. "It's a really crazy one…" His gaze shifted to the tied up man.

"Hey, how many of you are in this building?"

* * *

**A/N: And so ends this chapter...**

**Terrorists with human trafficking on the side... it's a bit random but i had that 'f*** it, i'm doing it!' feeling so...**

**However, their main objective won't be revealed until next chapter!**

**I want to thank everybody for all of those lovely reviews you left me! I'm too tired to write everybody's name out since it's one in the morning and i'm dead tired... sorry...**

**P.S. I've been trying to come up with designs for the cover but I didn't have much luck in my sketches. I made a few but they felt kind of, eh. I designed what the leader looked like when i was bored and i figured if i couldn't come up with anything decent, i might as well put him up as the cover. I'm open to any suggestions for what could be on the cover, so ask away! :D**

**Please Review! They are so lovely... :'D**


	4. Demands

**A/N: And here's my next installment! After much writing and editing, it has been finished! :O**

**I focused on my other sekaiichi fics for a little bit since they didn't seem to get enough love but I'm back here now! :D**

**I want to thank you all for the lovely follows, favorites, and reviews! It really means a lot! :D**

**Actually, this chapter was going to be two times longer but then I went and thought, "Nope!"**

**So this is basically the first half of said chapter. The next half will only come up within the next few days depending on the amount and quality of reviews I get. *wink wink***

**However, I must say that this fic really is getting longer than I originally thought. I know in a previous chapter, I mentioned that my max would seven chapters, but I might move it up a bit. Everything has a reason so I hope you will see that reason as this progresses because I have a little surprise at the end of this fic's story if it's liked enough! :D**

**Oh yeah, the entire time I was writing this, I was listening to the Merchant Prince by Thomas Bergersen. He makes such epic drawing music!**

**I actually felt that the song would be the theme song for this chapter. You can listen to this on youtube as you read it, it'll make everything more epic!**

* * *

"Sir, we got the negotiator."

After leaving his henchmen to watch over the two reception halls, the leader decided to head off to a private lounge on one of the upper floors with a few of his other men. Nonchalantly sitting on the luxury couch, dark combat boots were propped up on the coffee table as the liquid aqua eyes stared at the warmly colored ceiling.

Two of the subordinates sat at a nearby table with their open laptops, showing different camera angles of the street the building was on. They both sighed at the amount of the security that was around the building. Electric blue and blazing red light shone through the dark night as police cars had blockaded the surrounding road. There were even a few searchlights that were roaming up and down the sides of the brick building. There was also a large special assault team members lined up outside of their trucks, waiting for their orders.

The leader nodded at his subordinate as he switched the channel on his headset. He gazed at the flat screen television on the wall across from him, showing a live feed of the two reception halls full of terrified people that he currently holds hostage. He held a cheeky grin as he barked out his demands, which echoed throughout the hotel.

"Release our comrades from the Queen's case, give us two helicopters, five million yen, and a fuel-filled jet at the nearby airport. If you don't do so within the next two hours then we will start gunning down all of the hostages." He switched over the channel as he waited for the reply.

_"…!" _Hearing that announcement, all of the guests on the flat screen started to panic, unaware of the leader's sadistic eyes watching over them._ "I don't want to die!"_

_"Shut up!"_ One of the henchmen in the grand reception hall had bellowed out. He angrily pointed his gun at the ceiling and shot out a round to scare everybody back into submission.

The leader could only chuckle at the sight of how his subordinate handled the situation. "(Somebody's trigger happy today…)" He happily muttered in English.

* * *

….

There was sniffling, crying, shaking, and huddling all about in the large reception hall. Seeing as their fate seemed to lie in the hands of the police, everybody could only sit tight and pray that they would be saved. A few people even tried to beg at some of the gunmen but only received a kick in the chest and the threat to shoot down on them if they didn't shut up. However, some of the men in the large ocean of people didn't seem to be fazed by the threat, but rather the demands.

"The… Queen's case…" Isaka had murmured. Isaka, Asahina, and Akihiko all grew slightly pale at the mention.

Akihiko stole a few painful glances at the gunmen surrounding the large and terrified group. "So that's why these guys are so familiar… if memory serves correct, those men were incarcerated over here after that incident…"

"That'd explain why they're doing this here…" Asahina had concluded. The three men all nodded at this final statement, unaware of some of their fellow hostages who happened to overhear them.

"What… are they talking about?" Yoshino had curiously said. He was finally conscious after that shooting scare but didn't move from his lying position on the soft carpet as Hatori continued to press his wound with the reddening cloth. He winced at the pain from the applied pressure but didn't have the urge to start complaining with the worry already evident on Hatori's handsome face. The bleeding didn't show any signs of letting up and Hatori grimaced as he noticed the growing paleness of Yoshino's face.

"I guess they know something." Mino had casually told. Yanase slightly nodded at his mention as he sat next to the taller man. After finishing up wiping away the small tears, Yanase decided to keep leaning on Mino's firm shoulder. Brown bangs had brushed up against Mino's sleeve as he chuckled at the adorable sight. Even as a person who unusually smiled all the time, it was still surprising that he can manage to pull a smile in the current situation.

"Do you think they might tell us what they know…?" Kisa had quietly asked. He was starting to pull a deep frown as he saw that the three men were still keeping the discussion to themselves. Yukina casually shrugged as he kept his arms wrapped around Kisa's small frame, but he also held a slight frown at the fact that they were being kept in the dark.

Lavender eyes blinked twice as Akihiko looked around the room again. "Wait, if Misaki still isn't here… then-" He held back a gasp as he tried to get up.

"Don't, Akihiko! You'll be gunned down!" Isaka warned. He grabbed the infamous writer before he could do anything stupid and hastily pulled him back down.

"I swear if these bastards take Misaki…" Akihiko clenched a cold fist as he narrowed his pale eyes.

"'Take Misaki' sensei…?" Aikawa had curiously asked. However, she frowned when her words fell on deaf ears.

"Wait, is _he_ here?" Everybody nearby blinked twice at Akihiko's question. He wasn't around when Asahina had pointed out that nobody should use the Onodera name when the gunmen are so nearby so it came to a quick realization that Akihiko also knew the reason why Ritsu seemed to be a taboo amongst them.

"…He's somewhere." Isaka's sapphire eyes shifted over to Masamune sitting nearby before he turned back to Akihiko. "Just hope that chibi-tan ran into him, Akihiko…"

"They don't know he's here?" Amethyst eyes blinked twice at the realization.

Isaka gave an exasperated sigh as he gestured to one of the calm gunmen. "Look at them! Do you think they know he's here?"

"I suppose not…"

"Sensei… do you know something?" Aikawa had asked, gently grabbing Akihiko's sleeve. Tired of waiting for one of them to explain what they know, the female editor decided to just ask again.

"That's right." Akihiko had stated as a matter of fact.

The beautiful woman annoyingly gritted her teeth. "…Then will you at least explain who these men are?"

"They're terrorists. That's all you need to know." Isaka had calmly pointed out. Seeing as even the president of Marukawa didn't want to explain, Aikawa just took a deep sigh as she let go of Akihiko's sleeve.

"Isaka-san… there's something you're not telling us." Masamune had said. Amber eyes washed over the three men as Masamune clenched his fist. He had the really strong urge to just go and tackle one of them for some answers but knew that in the current situation, he'd be really stupid to do that.

"…"

"Isaka-san, these people attacked my daughter." Isaka turned at Kirishima's solemn tone. "She's with _him _but I don't want to be left in the dark. Please…" Kirishima clenched his fist as he looked at all three men. It's obviously getting more and more evident that the terrorists are very dangerous. The mere fact that Hiyori is still out there, game for anybody who would try to find her, sent shivers down the wavy-haired man's spine. He knew Ritsu was still with her, but he couldn't help but worry for his daughter.

Frowning, Yokozawa put a large hand on Kirishima's broad back as he rubbed it in small circles to calm him down. "You have to tell us other than what's the obvious, Isaka-san…" Yokozawa had calmly said. However, he still clenched his free hand in frustration as the seconds flew by.

The president could only sigh as he waved off Kirishima. "That's all the more reason I shouldn't tell you. If she's with him, she'll be fine." Isaka already knew for a fact what would be Kirishima's most likely reaction. Sapphire eyes kept glancing over to Akihiko to make for certain he wouldn't try to get up and Isaka didn't want to have another person to try to pull the same stupid move.

"How do you even know for sure?" Yokozawa had asked. Everyone else was starting to get really suspicious as to why Isaka and Asahina seemed to put so much confidence on Ritsu's capabilities. The men who listened in on the phone call were already aware that he was capable of defending himself but didn't know to what extent.

Akihiko could only chuckle. "You'd be surprised…"

Isaka uncharacteristically grimaced as he looked at his subordinates. "…You really have no idea what kind of family he's from or their history, do you?"

* * *

….

Back in the hotel room, Misaki and Hiyori looked out of the lone window and down onto the pavement below. They held a sight of wonder as they saw so many people standing behind the blockade of police cars down the street. However, Misaki slightly pouted at the sight of so many officers right outside of the building who were just standing around. They both backed away from the window as a bright ray of light from the searchlight roamed over it.

Misaki pondered about what Ritsu had just told him before he turned from the window. "…Do you think that kind of plan would work?" Misaki frowned as he looked at the older man sitting on the edge of the bed. The light from searchlight emphasized the evident bruises on Ritsu's pale cheek and neck.

Ritsu held up the brown glass bottle he had found earlier. "You saw how effective this is." Everyone turned to the captive who was strapped to a chair, completely knocked out by a small drop of the powerful anesthetic. "With all of them armed, it'd be too dangerous to take them head on. If the leader suddenly collapses, they'll all be in a state of confusion. That'll be the police's chance. "

Ritsu was very positive that the authorities were already surveilling the interior of the building by tapping into the security cameras. Since there was no doubt that one of the cameras could already have the leader in their sights, his sudden collapse would definitely raise the flag to move in.

Misaki's gaze weakened as he looked towards the floor, giving a sad mumble. "But… if that leader is as unstable as you say he is… you could get killed, Onodera-san…"

Ritsu's stern emerald orbs shifted to the side. "…You just heard that announcement. There's no way the authorities can put all of that together within two hours. We're at our worst case scenario." Ritsu sighed as a wave of painful nostalgia washed through his peridot eyes. "Knowing their leader, I don't think they'll kill everybody at once but they'll still…"

"…" Not knowing what to say, Hiyori could only clench her small fists.

Ritsu furrowed his brow as he ran his long fingers through his chestnut hair before covering his eyes with the palm of his hand. "There's someone precious to me down there as well. I'd never forgive myself if that person got killed while I was hiding." He gritted his teeth before taking a deep breath.

Misaki's deep eyes shifted over to the pile of confiscated weapons. "…You could at least take something from there..." Misaki knew that the light machine guns were out of the question, but the pistols, stun grenades, and knife were a different story."…It'd be best if you have something to defend yourself with… right?"

"No, they might wind up searching me… it'd be safer to go with just this." Ritsu raised up his right arm to show the hidden needle that was dowsed in the anesthetic. After searching the room, Ritsu could only find a few paper clips that could suffice as a decent needle. However, he still used the knife he found to sharpen the end of one of them before using some newly found office tape that can blend into his skin to strap the straightened out clip to his wrist. "It's really hard to hide anything from that guy… this is the only chance…" Ritsu had mumbled to himself.

"I-I'll go with you, Ricchan!" Hiyori shakily put a small foot forward. "Papa and Yokozawa onii-chan are precious to me!"

"No, I'll do this alone. You'll be in danger if you go with me. I'm sure they wouldn't like it if you got caught up in that..."

"But…" Hiyori's soft brown eyes weakly narrowed as she pursed her lips in disappointment.

"Takahashi-san, can you watch over her while I'm gone?" Misaki could only give a meek nod. "Hang onto this. If the worst should happen, it'd be best if they can't get in here." Pulling out the previously confiscated keycard, Ritsu handed it over to Misaki, who reluctantly took it.

Ritsu crouched down to Hiyori's height and gently patted her on the head. "Hiyori, in case you're found by any of the bad guys you have to use what I gave you. Alright?" The brunet gestured to Hiyori's newly done, braided ponytail. Brown eyes blinked twice as she instinctively touched the object hidden within her thick brown hair. She gave a small nod before Ritsu gave a forced smile and turned for the door.

"W-wait! Onodera-san… I…" Misaki slightly shook as he took a deep breath, clenching his injured fist.

* * *

…..

Back in the lounge, one of the henchmen heard some chatter on his transceiver and picked it up. "(You found him?)"

The leader's sharp eyes shifted over to his subordinate. "(Boss! They have the guy you said you wanted! It looks like they're bringing him down to the grand reception hall. Should I tell them to bring him up here with the others?)" Pressing a few buttons, the subordinate changed the video feed on his laptop from the street view to one of the hallways on the lower floors. Pressing a few more buttons, the flat screen television showed the hallway's live feed.

"…" As if wondering about something, the tan leader's pale eyes stared at Ritsu's image on the screen. He was already being manhandled as two of his subordinates were tying Ritsu up. However, his pale eyes momentarily widened when he looked at the other live feed of the grand reception hall and noticed some type of odd movement that was only noticeable to him.

"Boss?"

"(I think it'd be better to give a little show...)" Not really showing any emotion, the leader stood up and straightened out his military-like outfit before heading out the door. "(Keep an eye out for the girl as well. I don't think she could be too far away.)" He had called out.

"(Alright.)" The subordinate nodded at his leader before holding the transceiver back to his ear. "(Bring him down there.)"

* * *

…

"Oh god…" Masamune has gone completely pale.

Ritsu calmly sat on the ground on the other side of the room, blindfolded and hands tied behind his back.

In the light of the room, the bruises on his cheek and neck were visible to all. Masamune winced when he noticed the treated cut on Ritsu's shoulder. The chatter emanated throughout the room as everybody stared at Ritsu, who had a few terrorists standing in front of him but the leader was nowhere to be seen.

One man, who was apparently one of the men who stood on watch when the party originally began, had walked forward. "Hey… I saw you leave with that little girl earlier. Are you hiding her?" Needless to say, Yokozawa and Kirishima flinched at the mention.

"…" Ritsu kept his head down without doing anything.

He crouched to Ritsu's eye level. "Hey, hey… I asked you a question…" The man cocked an angry grin as he pulled out a knife. Everybody grimaced as the man grabbed the back of Ritsu's head and tilted his head upwards. "You wouldn't want your face to get all scratched up…" He pressed the flat side of the blade against Ritsu's pale cheek.

"Hmph…" Ritsu only gave a small hum. In response, the large man in front of him had pulled away the knife and gave Ritsu a strong slap, knocking him down to the ground. However, he didn't release a peep from the attack.

"Masamune…!" Yokozawa quickly grabbed Masamune before he could jump forward.

"You'll get shot if you do something, Takano!" Isaka had quickly hissed.

"You'd better tell us if you know what's good for you…" The terrorist kicked Ritsu in the chest, which served to give another spark to Masamune's anger.

"(…Like I'm telling you.)" The brunet had coldly uttered.

"…What'd he just say?" Most of the captives looked at Ritsu in confusion, however all of the gunmen had looked at him in surprise instead.

"'Like I'm telling you' is what he just said." Akihiko had pointed out. However, most of the people still looked on in confusion.

"Eh?"

"So you're an English speaker." A deep voice had bellowed out.

Everybody turned to see the leader of the terrorist group nonchalantly walking through the doors. "(Geez, I was so freaking tired of speaking Japanese!)" He gave a large sigh before taking another look at Ritsu. "(Hm… you really do seem kind of strange though… untie his blindfold.)" Sighing, the subordinate cut away Ritsu's blindfold to reveal his solid emeralds.

The leader started to chuckle as he looked at the damage on Ritsu's body. "(Sheesh, you didn't have to manhandle him to that extent…)"

"(He was like that when we found him…)"

"(Is that so…?)" Jet black hair shifting to the side, the leader tilted his head in surprise as he proceeded to question Ritsu in English. However, he remained a good distance away from him for reasons unknown.

"Sensei…! " The orange-haired woman tugged at Akihiko's sleeve, pointing behind the group.

"Misaki?" Akihiko turned to see Misaki hiding underneath one of the nearby tables that were amidst the sea of terrified people, his small head bobbed out from underneath the white tablecloth as he grabbed a nearby man's sleeve.

"How many of those people are in here, sir?" Misaki had quietly asked.

"Other than those new guys, there are seven of them in this room… I don't know how much more are out there though…"

"I see…" Misaki held a solemn sigh at the man's answer. His deep evergreen eyes glanced at the surrounding area to see all of the gunmen to be very far apart from each other as they surveyed the large group of people. The only reason Misaki was able to sneak in without getting caught was because of the fact there were no gunmen nearby the side door, not to mention there was a pillar directly in front of it. He gave a sigh of relief at the final realization that they didn't notice his appearance.

"…!" He held back a small gasp as he felt a cold hand on his delicate wrist. Misaki thought of the worst until he looked up to see lavender eyes looming over him.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Akihiko told. After spotting Misaki hiding underneath the table, Akihiko scooted over the short distance to make for sure that it really was him. He felt a slight happiness that the brunet was alright but also felt a pit in his stomach from the fact that Misaki is now prone to getting attacked by the terrorists in case things didn't turn out well.

"Misaki, your hand…!" Aikawa had gasped out.

Amethyst orbs blinked twice before Akihiko slightly growled at the thought of who would dare to hurt Misaki. Misaki frowned at the bandages woven around his injured hand. "Onodera-san… after he saved me, we heard the announcement." At the mention of his name, Ritsu's coworkers all turned to Misaki.

"You should've gotten out of here!" The ash blonde had quietly hissed.

Clenching his injured fist, Misaki was about to yell but remembered the current situation and only hissed in reply. "Not when you're here! Things were looking pretty bad from the outside, so I wanted to help in case he couldn't pull this off…" Misaki solemnly sighed as his deep emerald gaze turned over to Ritsu's figure across the hall.

Amber eyes blinked twice as Masamune turned to look at his beloved sitting across the hall. "Just what is he trying to do?"

Soft olive eyes shifted down to the floor. "That's…"

"A surprise…!" A squeaky little voice had chirped out.

"Who said that…?" The small group of men looked around to find the source of the odd voice within the ocean of people but couldn't find any leads.

"Shh…" Misaki hastily pressed a finger to his lips as he looked down. They all blinked twice when they saw a gray feathery head popping out of the front of Misaki's suit.

"Kero…?!" Akihiko and Isaka had quietly exclaimed.

"Shh…" The white-faced cockatiel had raised a wing to his little beak before snickering at everybody's bewildered reactions. "Teehee…"

Misaki softly rubbed the top of Kero's small head as he started to explain. "I met this bird when we were in the hallway upstairs… he seemed to know the way past all of the patrollers and I just followed him down here…" The brunet solemnly sighed as he stole a few looks at the gunmen surrounding the group. "If it weren't for him, I might've gotten caught…"

Isaka gave a tired laugh as he wiped some sweat from his brow. "Well, no wonder. Kero is-" Before he could explain, Kero cut him off.

"Shh… it's starting!"

They all turned back to where Ritsu and the terrorists were. Ritsu took a deep breath before he started. "(Scum… trash of the earth…)" Ritsu had spat out.

"Oh god…" Akihiko went pale as he listened to the brunet release a string of curses in English.

"What the hell is he saying, Akihiko?"

"Oi! You little shit!" Pissed off, one of the terrorists grabbed the front of Ritsu's disheveled shirt and lifted him up and off his feet.

"…Should I really have to tell you?"

Amber eyes had gone wide when Masamune turned to look at the distant leader. "O-oi!" The leader pulled out a pistol and aimed it at Ritsu. Most of the women in the room screeched as a _bang_ had echoed throughout the room.

A small splatter of blood hit the floor.

* * *

**A/N: Another cliffy! Aren't I evil? :D**

**By the way, Kero is an OC from my other sekaiichi fic. I figured I should make him a part of this since I love him so much! If you want to know how Kero was able to help Misaki, just go read that if you'd like...**

**...**

**sora yagami 4869- Aww... thanks for saying that Ritsu is cool! I can just picture him act like a badass if they ever made such a scene in the manga...**

**hiyokocchi- I'm glad that you're happy that I included the Romantica couple! :D**

**The-Bad-W0lf- I'm very happy that you think my story is exciting! It really means a lot! :D**

**Guest- You asked about when Ritsu mentioned human trafficking. I also mean sex trafficking but it basically depends on where the victims wind up in the end. They could be put into forced labor for all they know. And the thing about how Isaka knows Ritsu was a badass won't be revealed until a little later on! Thank you for loving this fic! :D**

**Crazyyaoifangirl- Thank you for loving my mind! You made me so happy saying that everybody deserves to read my awesomeness!**

**Lucia- Thanks for thinking this was lovely... :)**

**izzy1229anime- Thanks for being intrigued by my work! Ritsu's past won't be revealed until a little so you'll have to put up with wondering for now. :)**

**Chiye- Thanks for thinking this is exciting! Yoko and Kiri are so amazing together! XD**

**HiHi- Thanks for loving this story giving an idea on the cover art! I tried to sketching it out but I still didn't quite feel it though... sorry. But thanks though! :)**

**Guest- I'm glad you love this story! It's ok if you forgot to comment though. I'm very happy that I managed to your day into a non-crappy one!**

**ritsutakano- Thank you for loving it! **

**...**

**Sorry for any of the people I skipped. I couldn't really find a way to give a good response. Sorry again... :(**

**Some of you seemed to have the same response which was just telling me to update sooner, which is okay and all, but I don't really know how to respond that since it's not really a review...**

**Until again! **

**Please Review! ;)**


	5. Grim Light

**A/N: Sorry for the wait! I know that in my previous chapter I said I would update in a few days but life kept getting in the way when I was trying to make the edits...**

**Plus I had thrown myself into trying make the cover for the story. I could literally feel my laptop crying for me to hurry up since it takes up a lot of power to do the coloring... but that's out of the way for now! It's not completely done but I figured, why not put it up?**

**I also want to thank everybody who followed, favorited, and reviewed! It really means a lot!**

**School's going to be starting for me in a couple weeks so my updates might be a little more spacy depending on my workload. I'm trying to get all the credits I can before I transfer to another college, so I'm taking a lot of classes... so sorry in advance...**

**When I wrote this, I was listening to Black Blade by Two Steps from Hell. Feel free to listen to it to get into the mood! :D**

**I apologize in advance for any errors I might've missed.**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

"Ritsu…"

Proud emerald eyes ringed with gold worriedly looked up at the tall building penetrating into the dark sky, lit up by the electronic lights of the police cars and searchlights. Wavy golden locks fluttered in the crisp wind as a handsome man stood amongst a large crowd of bystanders behind a barricade. He was but a speck in the midst of the ocean of people.

"Have faith in him, Arihel-sama." A deep voice had spoken out.

The man had turned to see his faithful servant standing right beside him. "Java…" Pitch black hair was slicked to the back of a bronze-skinned neck and dark sunglasses reflected the shining lights coming from the distance. The tall man carried the faint scent of coffee. He wore a complete butler uniform, which bore golden marks of a single wing on his left shoulder and over his breast.

"That's right, Ari. He's your son, isn't he?" The blonde turned to his left to see his wife standing next to him. "He has Onodera blood running through his veins." Her long brown ponytail that was pushed by the wind gently brushed up against Ari's dark sleeve. She crossed her arms from the cold chill sweeping through but still held a strong pride in her navy blue eyes as she looked up at Ari.

"But a parent can't help but worry for his kid. Isn't that right, Chiya? He hasn't gotten involved in anything this serious since the Queen's case… and now it's the same guys…" Long fingers ran through his golden locks as Arihel grimaced at the sight of the hotel. "I can't imagine what Ritsu might be going through since it's them…" Letting her hidden worry slip out, Chiya tilted her head to rest against her tall husband's arm as a small frown came about.

"But Kero is already up there." A tranquil voice had chimed in.

Long and wavy chestnut locks were gracefully caressed by the wind. A beautiful woman who looked to be in her mid-twenties propped her gloved hands on her proud hips as her sharp emerald eyes also ringed with gold looked up at the large hotel. She wore an elegant military jacket underneath her short red shawl with fuzzy ruffles that stopped right above her ample breasts. Her grey pants hugged the smooth curves of her long legs as they disappeared into her knee-high boots.

"Those two are much more useful together than all of those buffoons. They're all just standing around and waiting for that useless negotiator." Her small face released a scowl as the woman glared at the distant group of Special Assault Team members just outside of the building.

"But something does seem rather fishy…" Chiya had wondered. "Even Kero told us to stay on this side of building…"

"Oh, that's right. I took the liberty of breaking into your house to get these." To the young brunette's right were two black guitar-shaped cases that were lying on the pavement. "Java, here you go." Taking one, she tossed it over to the butler.

"Milady! That's-"

"Do you really think those officers can handle them in case a fight breaks out, Java?" The young woman sighed as she swung the nylon strap over her shoulder and carried the other large case on her petite back.

"What? Nothing for me?" Arihel had inquisitively asked.

"Nope." She had blankly stated. She pouted as she cocked her head towards Ari. "I find it hard to believe that you showed up here without any weaponry. I'm sure you have something with you." Arihel gave a shy grin as his hand instinctively went to his pocket.

Chiya gave a small chuckle as she pressed a hand against the small of Arihel's back and pushed him forward. "Edgar should be somewhere up ahead with the paramedics. He can probably help to get you through." She told. Turning towards Java, she gave him a small nod to let him know that he should go along.

"It's not like it matters. I'll force my way through if I have to." Tsuri had scoffed, turning her heterochromic gaze up towards the ominous moon watching over them.

"You're that worried for Ritsu?" Arihel had curiously asked.

The beautiful brunette's long legs started to move forward as she narrowed her jeweled eyes. A small smirk flitted past her pink lips as she hopped over the barricade. Standing on top of the police car, she turned so that the two matching sets of rare eyes collided.

"How stupid are you?"

* * *

….

Ritsu had remained calm as a small gash had formed on his right cheek from the bullet that the leader had fired at him. A small trickle of blood started to leak from the wound and down the curve of his cheek as he continued to give a penetrating glare towards the leader, who still held up his pistol aimed at Ritsu. Surprised, the terrorist who held Ritsu up by the front of his shirt had dropped him back to his feet as he turned to his leader.

_"Figures…" _Ritsu had thought as he fought back the urge to roll his eyes. The slick warmness continued to flow down his cheek but Ritsu didn't try to rub it away since his hands were still behind his back.

"Masamune…!" It took Yokozawa all he had to hold onto Masamune before he could try to lunge at the leader. However, he still tried to angrily break his way out of his hold.

"Chibi-tan, is this part of the plan?!" Isaka had hissed. He immediately turned, as well as the others, towards Misaki.

"Yeah…" The young brunet solemnly nodded as he grimaced at everybody's shocked expressions. "There are too many of them in the building and everyone's armed so this was the only plan he could come up with!"

"Shh…" Kero held up a pale wing at Misaki before turning back towards Ritsu.

Cold blue eyes blinked twice at Ritsu's unflinching stance as all of the other gunmen stared at him in curiosity. "(That didn't scare you?)" A deep and dark chuckle vibrated out of the leader's firm throat as he slowly made his way over to Ritsu with an evil glint in his eyes. "(Looks like you'll be a lot of fun to break…)"

"Almost…" Misaki had whispered to himself. But he slightly frowned when he noticed that Ritsu still hadn't gotten rid of the rope still binding his arms. However, he cocked an eyebrow in confusion when he noticed Kero shaking his head.

"(Hey boss, we found the little girl!)" A deep voice had loudly called through the radio transceivers of all the terrorists. At that mention, Ritsu and Akihiko went slightly pale.

_"Did Hiyori…?"_

"Earlier, didn't you mention your daughter was out there?" Akihiko had worriedly asked Kirishima. Yokozawa and Kirishima both raised an eyebrow and the brunet nodded before Akihiko continued. "…They found a little girl."

Yokozawa and Kirishima could just feel their hearts stop…

Misaki unintentionally pounded the soft floor in surprise as he looked at his lover. "What?! She left the room…?!"

"No…" Yokozawa and Kirishima went completely pale when they saw Hiyori being carried into the room, blindfolded and hands tied behind her back. They both noticed the newly done braid she had but obviously threw that to the back of their minds as they saw her quivering in fear.

"Hiyori…?" Ritsu had bewilderedly asked.

"Sorry, Ricchan…"

"(Looks like we got the main prizes...)" The terrorist put Hiyori down on her feet as she stood not too far away from Ritsu. "(Since you knew to speak English then you might already know what's going to happen to you two, right?)" The leader darkly chuckled at Ritsu's disgusted expression before he stared at Hiyori for a few moments. "(Looks like she'll sell for a good price…)"

"You bastard…" Ritsu had hissed out in Japanese, only to get a cold chuckle in return.

The crowd around Akihiko turned towards him for the translation but he only solemnly shook his head. However, one glance from Isaka and Asahina was enough for them to know what the leader had most likely said.

"Get moving, unless you want a head full of bullets." One of the tall escorts had told. They both nudged Ritsu's and Hiyori's backs with the sides of their guns before they started to walk away towards the door. Hiyori held back little sniffles as their footsteps padded towards the doors. Ritsu unconsciously started to grit his teeth as he felt the soft chuckles coming from the escorts' mouths.

Ritsu was about to turn towards the terrorists before he heard a familiar deep voice.

"Where the hell are you taking them?!" Masamune had yelled out, still being held down by Yokozawa. It took the man all he had to keep Masamune from bolting across the room and putting himself in danger.

"(Hmmm?)" A tan finger rubbed a firm chin before the leader gestured to Hiyori and pointed at one of his subordinates nearby the large group of hostages. One of the escorts undid her blindfold while one of the terrorists nearby Ritsu and Hiyori seemed to show a lot of confusion as the leader barked out an order in English. "(…)"

"…!" Ritsu and Akihiko gasped at the leader's mention. "Get down!"

A series of bullets rang out through the reception hall.

All of the hostages had ducked for cover and many of the well-dressed people had screeched in response of the attack.

"What… the hell?" Masamune had said. Isaka had immediately grabbed the tops of Masamune's and Yokozawa's heads and pushed them down to the ground, not worrying for whatever bruises might've formed on their faces. The same had gone for Asahina who had thrust Kirishima down to the ground and Akihiko, who basically enveloped Misaki in his arms as they laid flat on the ground. As if he already knew, Kero had previously hopped out of Misaki's suit and just hid underneath the table as he watched on.

"Sorry, Yoshino…" Hatori had gently whispered. As pale as his face was, Yoshino still managed to pull out a heavy blush for a moment when Hatori had quickly lied on top of Yoshino's weak body after that warning. However, the blush quickly disappeared when the guns went off.

"I-it's alright." Yoshino had stuttered out.

"They… were trying to kill us?" Kisa had shakily whispered out. Since he was already in Yukina's strong arms, it took him no time to push the raven down for cover. Yukina held a small sigh of relief that his beloved was alright but he was obviously still worried for the fact that these terrorists might have gone on the offensive now.

"Are you alright, Yanase-san?" Mino had gently asked. Before the rounds had gone off, Mino had quickly grabbed the smaller man and pushed him to the ground. He was about to yell at Mino for knocking him down, that is, until the bullets flew.

"Ah, yeah…" Yanase meekly nodded and slightly blushed before he noticed something that had dripped to the ground. "…?"

"Mino, your back!" Kisa had worriedly called out. From where he was lying, Kisa had a clear view of the injury on his back.

Hastily getting up, Yanase slightly turned Mino's broad back to see a long gash that cut through the upper portion of his back. "You're bleeding!"

"Oh, it's only a scratch."

"Ah… ha…." Everybody turned at the sound of Hiyori's heavy breathing. All of the hostages gasped as they saw a figure lying in a puddle of blood right next to Ritsu and Hiyori. Some blood had splattered onto the duo's clothes and faces as they both took a step back at the sight. "Ah… uwa…" Moist tears streamed down Hiyori's small face as she quivered at the body before her.

"Why did he…?" Everyone was bewildered beyond all reason since it was one of the terrorists who was lying in that puddle of blood.

The leader simply chuckled at Hiyori's terrified reaction before he wiped away a speck of blood on his high cheekbone. "(I knew that guy seemed weird. Who'd have thought an imposter managed to get in here?)"

"…What?" Ritsu and Akihiko gasped at the sight before Akihiko filled the others in on what the leader had just said. "That man on the ground was an imposter…"

"(I think it'd be best if the authorities got a message…)" Ritsu's mouth slightly hung open when he noticed the leader's pale eyes turning towards the balcony.

"(Get rid of him.)"

"…!" Everybody felt a slight shiver in their spines when they saw two of the terrorists drag the spy's bloody body over to where the balcony was. They all immediately knew what they were planning as a thick trail of blood was left in the man's wake…

"(Stop! You can't just-)" Ritsu tried to take a step forward towards the balcony. However, Ritsu was stopped when the leader suddenly appeared by Ritsu's side and his large hand grabbed a fistful of his hair.

"Argh…!" As if he were nothing, the leader did an overhead throw and launched Ritsu across the room into one of the pillars. Hitting the top of the pillar, there were a large amount of cracks in the place of the pillar where Ritsu's back had hit.

"Ricchan!"

"Ah…" He gave a weak cough as he fell back to the ground. He weakly landed on his feet and fell forward with a thud.

_"Unstable! He really is unstable!"_ Misaki had quickly thought. Remembering how Ritsu mentioned that the leader was unstable, a small part of Misaki was thinking that he might've over exaggerated but seeing this was enough to let him know.

"Ono-" Masamune was about to call out Ritsu's name before Isaka came up and clamped his hand over his subordinate's mouth. Amber eyes turned to him in shock before Isaka gestured over to Ritsu's collapsed form.

"You are going to make things _so much_ worse for him if you call out his name, Takano!" Isaka had hissed.

The leader crossed his muscular arms and gazed at Ritsu's body before he turned to his subordinates and the imposter who were already out on the balcony. "(Do it.)" He darkly chuckled out.

"O-oi!" Without hesitation, the two men tossed the man's bloody body over the railing of the tenth floor's balcony. His body held a slight glow from the colorful lights of the police cars and searchlights before he vanished into the city below.

"…!" All of the civilians in the room cringed as they heard the bloodcurdling screams and horrified shouts from outside, obviously from the sight of the man falling to his doom. It was so loud that nobody could hear any signs of when the man's body would hit the pavement. However, the two men who had thrown the imposter off the balcony didn't even bother to look as they walked back in the room to snicker at their captives' horrified reactions.

"Ah… ha…" Many of the people in the group started to hyperventilate. Clammy hands were being held up to heaving mouths as everybody started to hold back whimpers. However, many people felt small streams of water escaping the corners of their eyes as they shook in fear.

They all started to feel the true danger of the situation.

The leader tapped at his headset to change the channel for the negotiator. "_That_ was for the little trick you tried to pull on us. Try it again and it won't be just your men plummeting 100 feet to the pavement. You have an hour and a half left." There was a strong amount of venom in the deep tone of the man's voice before he switched off the headset and turned towards the doors.

"It's so boring to wait for the police. It'd be more fun to extend our little show…"

"The hell…?" The captives all blinked twice when they saw a large group of thuggish looking men coming in through the doors. Like their fellow terrorists, they all gave off the same foreigner air, having tannish complexions and being rather larger than the vast majority of the people in the room. However, instead of wearing the thicker pieces of bulletproof armor that their comrades were wearing, they wore the thinner versions and seemed to be more of the scrapper type than the gunmen.

A tan and handsome face held a roguish grin as the leader looked at Ritsu. "There's nothing more entertaining than public humiliation…" The leader had slipped out in Japanese. He gave a deep chuckle before switching back to English. "(You can have your fun… but just make sure he at least stays alive. He won't be worth anything if he died.)" The large group of men all nodded as they walked towards Ritsu's collapsed form. The leader turned towards Hiyori and the gunmen standing behind before gesturing towards the door. "(Get her on ahead in the room with the others.)"

"Others…" Akihiko had mumbled.

"Right." The escort nodded before nudging Hiyori with his gun. "Move it, kid."

"P-papa… nii-chan…" Hiyori had weakly sniffled out. Afraid of the gun pointed at her, Hiyori could only give one final, painful look before turning away and headed to the exit with one of the gunmen right behind her.

"Hiyo…" A single tear escaped a tired brown eye as Kirishima slightly shook. Hiyori was being sent to who knows where and Kirishima can't do anything about it. As much as he wanted to bolt up out of his spot and charge for Hiyori… he didn't even want to risk that gun going off with her nearby. From what they just witnessed, it was obvious how much a stupid move would cost them. Yokozawa clenched his teeth at the same realization.

"Unh…"

Still recovering from when he was tossed across the room, Ritsu barely made an effort to fight back as one of the overgrown men grabbed a fistful of soft brown hair. He casually lifted Ritsu up all the way off the ground as if he were a rag doll, dangling from the painful hold. The muscly man darkly grinned along with comrades as they noticed the horrified looks on the hostages' faces. Emerald eyes dully opened up as Ritsu tried to register the current situation.

_"My head…"_ He was still dazed as his eyes dully shifted to each of the terrorists.

"Snap out of it, you idiot!" Masamune shouted. Starting to slip out of Yokozawa's grip, Isaka immediately came to his side again to suppress the frantic editor.

"Calm down!"

"How the fuck do you expect me to calm down?!" Masamune had bellowed out in reply.

"Just-"

"Shut up!" A deep voice bellowed out. The gunman that was supposed to escort Hiyori out had angrily pressed the gun to the back of her head. She stifled a whimper as Yokozawa and Kirishima felt a very deep pit form in their stomachs.

"Unless you want me to kill this girl right here!"

At that moment, Yokozawa went full force to slam Masamune down on the floor to make for certain he wouldn't do anything. Masamune momentarily tried to squirm out of his hold but when he saw the desperate look on Yokozawa's long face, he regrettably started to calm down.

_"Masamune…"_

The leader could only chuckle at this point before he waved his subordinate down. Sighing, the gunmen put the gun down in the stationary position as he urged Hiyori to keep moving.

"(Well, what're you waiting for? Have at him.)" The leader had told his other subordinates. Ritsu was still being held by his hair but he was already showing signs of snapping out of it.

_"I guess it can't be helped…" _Ritsu had solemnly thought.

Turning towards Masamune, Ritsu gave a weak smile. "Takano-san… I'm sorry for having you see me like this..." Ritsu gave a small chuckle before taking a deep breath.

_"I at least wanted to tell you that I love you…"_

"Eh?"

"(Let go of me.)" Ritsu had sternly told, only to get empty chuckles and sneers in reply.

The fist clenching soft brown hair slightly tightened as the terrorist gave a cheeky grin. "(Sure… as soon as I give you some of this…!)" A burly fist was pulled back before thrusting at full force towards the brunet's stomach.

A sickening _crack_ echoed throughout the room.

Too fast for anybody else to react, Ritsu's leg was already raised straight up towards the ceiling as a hand unnaturally dangled from a firm arm. "Agh! My arm…!" Clutching his broken arm, the terrorist howled in pain as everybody watched on, speechless.

Dropping back down to the ground, Ritsu lightly hopped in place with one foot before doing a quick spin. "Argh!" With a sharp battle cry, Ritsu delivered another strong high kick to the side of the man's torso, sending him flying into one of the nearby tables. Everybody winced as they heard the crackling sounds of wood and glass breaking, looking on in shock at the damage that had been done. The unconscious assailant's body was splayed out in an awkward position as he lay amongst the shattered debris and the surprising indentation in the ground.

"What… the hell?"

"A change of plans, I guess…" Ritsu had mumbled to himself as he took another deep breath to clear out his aching head. "(That's why I told you to let go of me.)" He proclaimed.

"(…You bastard!)" Angry at the current state of his comrade, one of the other henchmen furiously grabbed one of the chairs and hurled it in Ritsu's direction.

Snapping his knee up and fiercely pushing his foot forward, Ritsu delivered a strong kick towards the cushion of the chair. The force of the kick had thrust the flying chair back towards the terrorist, who had dodged at the last second but turned when he heard the heavy amount of clatter. As it turned out, the chair struck one of the tables and sent both pieces of furniture tumbling into a pillar and breaking apart into debris.

"(How strange… you really do remind me of someone who I found a long time ago.)" The leader had deeply murmured as he curiously looked over Ritsu.

"…" Not saying anything, Ritsu gritted his teeth as he tried to pry his hands out of the rope. Everybody's eyes blinked twice when he managed to rip away the rope and spread his arms out before turning towards Hiyori and the gunmen standing next to her.

The gun was still aimed away at her, pointing at the ground in the stationary position. With this opportunity, Ritsu did one strong push against the floor with the heel of his foot and did an inhumanly fast bolt past the group of enemies.

"Wha…?!"The escort jumped back in surprise as he lifted up his light machine gun and aimed it at Ritsu. Swiftly undoing his tie, Ritsu leapt up to the nearby pillar that was nearby Hiyori and her escort before jumping over the bullet that was fired at him. Whipping out the tie, Ritsu managed to wrap the tie around the man's neck and tugged him forward, away from Hiyori.

Whipping his leg around, the light machine gun flew out of the terrorist's hands before Ritsu did another midair spin and shot up his leg into the man's firm chin. Everybody's jaws hung open as the large man was lifted off his feet by the strong kick before Ritsu gave his tie another tug. Ritsu aggressively pulled down the tie and gave the terrorist's chest a thundering kick that sent him flying back.

Flying back several meters, the terrorist's body rolled to a stop as most of the onlookers had watched on, completely baffled at the sight. Ritsu was about to walk over and check on Hiyori before he noticed that the terrorist started to get back up. "(You're still conscious? I thought that was enough to knock you out.)"

Everybody took note of the large crack on the solid piece of bulletproof armor that the terrorist had worn. It was easy to say that the armor spared the man from taking on the full extent of damage intended. However, everybody was still surprised by the astonishing amount of power Ritsu could put into his legs.

He momentarily rubbed his aching chest and coughed before he recomposed himself. "(Don't take me lightly, dammit!)" Full of anger, the terrorist quickly unwrapped Ritsu's tie from his neck and hastily pulled out two jagged knives. The hostages all watched on in horror as the large man darted towards Ritsu.

As Hiyori backed away in fear, Ritsu took a heavy sigh as he walked forward.

"(…Fine, then.)"

Making the first move, the terrorist swiped one of the knives at Ritsu. He smoothly stepped out of the way and surprised the terrorist when Ritsu easily took one of the knives out of the tall opponent's hands.

"(You…)" The large man gritted his teeth as he started to take swipes at Ritsu with his other knife. However, Ritsu expertly defended against each spark-filled attack before weaving underneath one of the swings of his opponent's arm. From behind, Ritsu twisted the man's strong arm and easily forced the other knife out of his opponent's thick hand. He kicked the taller man away as Ritsu nonchalantly held the knives in his hands.

"(I thought you said not to take you lightly, am I wrong?)" Ritsu cocked an eyebrow as he looked at his opponent's annoyed expression. Before anybody could react, Ritsu threw the knives down into the ground at his shocked opponent's feet before Ritsu recomposed himself. "(Remember, you asked for this…!)"

Ritsu quickly bolted over to him, jumping up to the tall opponent's height. He had no time to react as Ritsu stretched out an arm that pressed against the man's thick throat, managing to force the man backwards and off of his feet. Faster than anybody could blink, Ritsu shifted over to the side of his defenseless victim and lifted up his leg.

"Argh…!"

An aggressive leg came down on the thick man's abdomen, releasing a strong _crunch_ from his broken body armor before he plummeted back to the ground. The vibrations shook throughout the room as everybody went wide eyed when they noticed some of the tables and even Hiyori had momentarily been lifted off the ground.

"Gah…" The incapacitated man gave a really rough cough before knocking out on the indented ground. "Uh…"

"Oh fuck… he's a badass…" Yanase had slipped out. Everybody nearby who had heard him instantly nodded.

"I didn't know Ricchan could do all that…" Kisa had pointed out. Masamune immediately turned to him at the comment before curiously looking at Isaka. Isaka gave his subordinate a knowing glance before turning back to the scene that was unfolding before them. Everybody watched on in awe as Ritsu walked over to Hiyori to undo the rope.

_"Self-defense classes, my ass…!"_ Misaki had shouted out in his mind. Looking at all of the collateral damage and how he moved, it was safe to say that the classes Ritsu had claimed he took weren't just for self-defense. Hell, he never knew people could actually move as amazingly as he did.

From behind her, Ritsu tugged and ripped the rope from Hiyori's thin wrists before turning her around. "Are you alright?" Ritsu had gently asked Hiyori. She immediately nodded, hastily rubbed away a tear and still shook in fear as she hid behind Ritsu's leg before he turned back towards everybody else in the room. They all blinked twice at the changed look in Ritsu's eyes. The penetrating glare he had given earlier was now replaced by an even more intimidating one.

No matter how they looked at him, Ritsu's burning emeralds gave off the strong ferocity of a warrior.

Ritsu gritted his teeth as he looked at the leader, who had a few gunmen standing nearby him. As it stood, he had no way of getting to the leader unless he found a way to get through everybody that was armed. Not to mention that Hiyori was still in harm's way with her so far away from the group and obviously still considered a target. He could go for the gun lying at the nearby terrorist's side, but that would mean the other gunmen would most likely try to use their firearms on him.

The group of thuggish looking men stood at a standstill with Ritsu and Hiyori. All of the hostages anxiously waited for someone to make the next move. Everybody knew it was inevitable that someone was going to make the first move but nobody had any idea who it would be. Yokozawa and Kirishima still shook in fear at the danger Hiyori was in but also felt some relief at how Ritsu was able to handle himself in the current situation.

Some of the men looked at the damage done to their comrades and started to get more and more aggravated as time flew by. "(You bastard…)" One of them had hissed. (You're going to pay for that…!)" Some of them started to take heavy steps forward as they pulled out their own jagged knives.

"O-oi…" Kirishima was about to raise up a hand when he saw the group of dangerous men walking over to where Ritsu and Hiyori were. However, Asahina who was nearby had grabbed his arm and shook his head at what Kirishima had wanted to do. "But…"

All of a sudden, the leader tossed his head back in a deep guttural laugh that threw everybody off guard. "So that's why you caught my eye…" Propping a hand on his firm hip, short and dark hair shifted to the side as the leader cocked his head with a wicked grin. "I should've realized it sooner… you have the same eyes as _those_ people." Quickly aiming his pistol at the duo, the leader fired a bullet at Ritsu and Hiyori. Nearly everybody gasped in amazement as Ritsu instantaneously pulled out a jagged knife to slash away the bullet.

Small sparks flew as the deflected bullet hit the ground a few feet away. At that moment, everybody's gaze momentarily shifted to where Ritsu had previously thrown a knife down into the floor, only to find two linear holes in their place.

There was a demonic look in Ritsu's emerald eyes as he glared at the leader who only smirked in return at Ritsu's failed attempt to hide the weapon. "You're Onodera Ritsu, one of the lions of god. Am I correct?"

While the guests raised an eyebrow at the leader's odd wording, Isaka, Asahina, and Akihiko grimaced. "Oh crap…"

"…!"The captive guests curiously watched in horror as all of the gunmen in the room turned their weaponry towards Ritsu. They all shook in fear as the barrels of their dark guns were aimed at Ritsu. Hiyori stifled another whimper as she continued to hide and shake behind Ritsu. Even the group of thugs had started to take several terrified steps back.

Ritsu only narrowed his emerald eyes in response before giving a monotone mutter.

"…A pleasure."

* * *

**A/N: And that ends this chapter! I hope you all enjoy it! On a side note, some of the ocs that were introduced in the beginning won't reappear for a while. Some of you might remember Java from my crossover fic and the brunette with the red shawl... you might remember from my Remembering when my World Ended fic. I already have the perfect excuse for how she's here though! Wait and see... hehe...**

**Hiyokocchi- Thanks for loving Kero! He's such a fun character to work with and it's nice to know that people like my ocs! More of the Onodera family background will be revealed in my next installment so you'll have that to look forward to!**

**Imagine Wings- I'm so happy that you love my story so much! I actually had the thought of having some more input from the cops but I figured that the spy scene was enough to get the point across on how the authorities had intended to deal with the situation. I did take your advice about adding more inner dialogue but I didn't want to add too much since it mess with the story's flow. **

**GeordiePenguin- I really am happy that people are loving the hero side of Ritsu! And... nope! Ritsu isn't a ninja but that's a good guess!**

**Cookiethug- Thanks for thinking that Ritsu is cool! I'm really glad that people aren't minding that I'm stretching out this story!**

**Crazyyaoifangirl- Thanks for saying that my story is interesting! I don't really know how I do it, entirely. I just script the chapter first before going into the details. But half the time I actually put in last minute scenes. I'm happy that you love my brain though!**

**Guest-To the girl whose day was and hopefully isn't crappy today, sorry for adding cliffhangers but that's the sadistic side of me showing through! I didn't really do much research on people's bleeding rates so it didn't really occur to me that Yoshino's bleeding would slow down, even if it did seem like common sense. But I also figured that he's generally not that healthy of a person since he really can't take care of himself and he's always losing weight, so I'm pretty sure that would come into play with his slow recovery.**

**Dokidoki- I'm glad that you like me giving new sides to the characters! I wasn't really sure if people would like it but i'm glad it worked out! :D**

**Please Review!**


	6. Shackles of a Title

**A/N: Ok, so here's my next installment of this story. Looking at the word count when I finished, I was like... the hell?**

**Thank you all for the favorites, follows, and reviews!**

**To be honest, I would've updated this hours ago but today I got my red present from mother nature that nobody ever likes...**

**"Uterus punch!" Which is what I like to call cramps. And I'd been suffering from those punches all freaking day long. Ironically, there are times when I have my present and my sister happens to have it the same time as me. But she doesn't get "uterus punches". She just gets it! I remember last month we had it together, I was dying on the couch hoping that the ibuprofen would kick in soon and she would come up to me and ask how i was feeling. I just gave her a dirty look...**

**Damn you uterus... *sobs to myself* Damn you...**

** The next day, I told my friends how we had it at the same time and one of my friends pointed out, "Maybe she gave her cramps to you because of your twin telepathy!" At that moment I was like, "That makes perfect sense!" **

**By the way, I have a twin sister, just so you know. One of my friends likes to think that we somehow have twin telepathy even though I'm pretty sure we don't. But that would make some sense in this case..**

**Well that's enough rambling about myself!**

**I apologize in advance for any errors you may spot and the little awkward bits in between. It's so long for crying out loud... there's bound to be something wrong somewhere...**

**The music I listened to with the first half of this chapter was Truth by Audiomachine, it's a sad but uplifting song that fits the first half. For writing the second half of the chapter, I listened to Solace by Audiomachine, which is good for that particular scene. You can find them both on youtube and I hope you enjoy them!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own SIH or any of its characters with the exception of my OCs.**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

_As long as those types of people exist on this planet, I'll never be free… _

_…..._

_I've told him how I felt._

_ Over and over, I've told senpai that I love him._

_If everything stays the same, he'll be able to hear me repeatedly say that. Possibly, he'll even tell me that he loves me one day…_

_"Would senpai like this book…? Maybe this one…?" _

_I was in my room. _

_I had taken out a large amount of my books from the nearby bookshelves in the corner of my room. They were all splayed out across my entire bed as I looked them over. There was an even bigger amount of books lying in a stack next to the side of my bed. Getting off of my bed, I crouched down and decided to disassemble the stack of books across the hardwood floor. The floor was already squeaky clean so I didn't have much issue as I laid them all out in neat rows. _

_"Father got me this one… and it's senpai's favorite author… hm…" I picked up the creamy white book that father got me a few days ago and flipped through the pages. This book was actually very good. The plot was a little bit cliché but the different character developments and the unexpected twists seemed to keep me hooked. I managed to finish the book before I even realized it. _

_"Alright! I'll bring this one!"_

_I slightly giggled as I hugged the hardcover book to my chest. "I wonder what kind of face senpai would make…" Senpai never really smiled at me. At times, he did slight chuckles but that was as far as it got. He was such a beautiful person, it seemed like a waste to never smile. Maybe if he really liked this book, he'll smile for me. My face felt so warm at the silly thought..._

_ I was so caught up in my wild imagination that I didn't even notice father knocking on the door before he walked into my room. He had that familiar, grim look on his face. _

_"Ritsu… it's time…" _

_At that very moment, I dropped my book before I slowly got up off the ground. "…Yes, father." I meekly nodded, leaving senpai's discarded book on the floor as I followed father to the backyard._

_…..._

_Our backyard was called a backyard mainly because it was behind our house but most people who see it would say that it was more of a large plain. This flat and grassy plain of a backyard had a few trees that were in it but when you looked around, you'd see that the entire area was surrounded by a large forest of trees. It seemed to give off the air of an arena with the way it was shaped._

_I looked at my father who was wearing nothing but dark running pants that clung to his long legs. He also wore the metallic shin and arm guards but that was the only other type of clothing he wore._

_Looking down on myself, I was wearing the exact same outfit as him. I've already gone past the awkward feeling of wearing such 'showy' pants but I couldn't help but feel so scrawny next to my father, even if I did have a little muscle. Standing nearly a foot taller than me, he was literally a walking Adonis with his perfectly sculpted muscles that held the look of a warrior with the multitude of scars littering around his chest and back. His wavy blonde hair was tied back into a ponytail as he propped his hands on his strong hips. _

_"Like this…" Father had told as I watched him compose himself. In front of us was a manmade stone path that had stone posts lined up along its sides._

_Pushing his foot against the cracking ground, I saw father barrel past all of the posts, creating a large shockwave. They all flew away from the strong wind. All of the dust had kicked up in his wake as he stood at the other end of the foot-stamped path._

_"…" To be honest, I don't know why I asked him to show me this. I already knew that I'm not strong or fast enough to pull that kind of move yet but I couldn't help but be curious._

_Moving over to the regular training area with father, I could feel several pairs of eyes on me. I tried to ignore them as I started to practice with father but that was nearly impossible…_

_"How superb." I heard from the nearby gazebo._

_"The boy's a true prodigy..." Another spectator had told. To be honest, I don't know why these people like to come and watch me train. Father told me they were all members of the families that had helped out the original head of the Onodera clan in the olden days so they pretty much had all of the right to watch us. But I can't help but feel uncomfortable being watched by them…_

_"I've heard the family refused another guardian position!" Why are they bringing that up? How embarrassing…_

_"Eh? That's the third one this month."_

_"It's been the same issue for the past couple of generations but Ritsu is the only one who's gotten so popular." I heard my mother sigh as she stirred the little spoon in her ceramic cup of tea. "So many politicians seem to be begging for him to be a bodyguard this time around… of course I would never allow him to go through that in his young age." _

_ People my age were focused on school, relationships, their future aspirations, and such. I had those too, but I was still different. Most teenagers would be able to go out to have fun when they have free time. The most I could do at times was stay after school with senpai. To be honest, that's what has kept me going…_

_"What kind of face would senpai make…?" I asked myself._

_What I was doing right now was something most people my age wouldn't do. There were already a few occasions when I was younger when people had seen me fight that they would try to stay from me with fear and disgust etched into their faces. I could feel my heart clench at the thought of how senpai would react…_

_…..._

_Legend had it that for generations, my ancestors used to be slaves._

_The people in my family were valued for how capable we were as fighters. Once somebody was bound in chains, they had no hope of escape, even if they were broken. It seemed many of them had to learn that the hard way._

_ I've heard that for some of the women who were turned into slaves, they were basically turned into breeding horses. Many rich families had wanted to buy them for that purpose. However, I've heard that the enslaved women wound up killing their own babies in secret, believing that their children would find more freedom in death._

_It's so tragic it seems like a fable._

_But one day… one of my ancestors, the original head of the Onodera clan, had killed his owner._

_ He was free._

_We were known as the Lions of God for who knows how long after that._

_Nobody even knew who gave us that strange title. However, I've been told that if anybody tried to refer to me as such, then I should stay away from them. My only assumption was that the one who gave us that title was probably one of our ancestor's former slavers. We were probably given that title before the original head had freed himself._

_However, that's only my assumption. That's right, only an assumption. An assumption based on what I already know. An educated guess, I guess._

_I particularly didn't like that title anyway. That was because it reminded me of an old city that was constantly under siege in the past. My father was pretty much named after our title._

_It probably did seem fitting for my family though since throughout the ancient generations, members of my family would be shifted from owner to owner. We weren't viewed as humans, just objects of power. Our own feelings didn't seem to have any say. No matter what my family could say in the end, we'd only be ignored._

_The people who tried to enslave my ancestors seemed to be more inhuman than us. However, even in today's society, we would be the ones considered more inhuman. It's a sad fact, really._

_It was a foolish but terrifying fact, really._

_We were simply humans that can break the natural limiters on our already dense muscles. That's all it was to it. Nothing more, nothing less. _

_Of course, from a medical professional's standpoint, there was nothing simple about it. People can only use a very small amount of their muscles at a time. If they used up too much strength then their muscles would tear up, their bones would break, and possibly disintegrate._

_ They'd be in excruciating pain._

_In my case, I can go all the way on my legs without much issue but my arms can only handle so much before the muscles start tearing up. I don't particularly mind that minor deficiency since it would make me a little bit more normal, abnormal as I already am._

_…..._

_"…!" Senpai's mouth slightly hung open when I showed him the book I picked out for him. "I went to the store to buy this book but they didn't even have them up for sale yet. How'd you get this?"_

_"Oh! My father managed to get it for me. You told me this author was your favorite and I thought you'd like it!" I had completely forgotten that father told me he got it before the release date! "I already read it, but I won't spoil it for you!" I chirped out._

_It really took me by surprise when senpai grabbed me and pulled me in for a hug. I could feel my face getting warmer as I was pressed against senpai's firm body…_

_"Thank you…" He softly mumbled into my ear._

_"I-it's nothing…" I could just feel my cheeks burning as I snuggled into the hug. _

_Has senpai gotten taller?_

_I remember I was able to reach up to the crook of his neck with the top of my head about a week ago but now, it seems like I can't. I'm just shy of a few centimeters now._

_It's really strange. Senpai doesn't seem to do much exercise other than for physical education class but he has larger muscles than mine. _

_On that moment, I realized that my muscles still hadn't changed in their appearance all that much, despite all of the training. I guess it's because my muscles are very condensed, mainly in my legs. I don't really do anything like weight lifting or such. The normal training regimen was centered around combat specifically so my muscles don't really puff out._

_I remember one night when we… made love… senpai seemed really surprised when he noticed how heavy I was. I was unbelievably tired that day because since there was professional development at school, it was closed for the day. So I literally had training from sunrise to sunset. After I had training, I literally bolted the entire six kilometer distance to senpai's house when he called me on my cellphone and told me he was feeling lonely. Becoming one pretty much sapped away the last of my strength... _

_I almost broke into laughter when he said I should exercise more after I collapsed onto the floor and he lugged me all the way back into his bed. _

_It was really ironic…_

_…..._

_"I refuse." It's this senpai again… he's been bugging me a lot recently. We were in the library and I was just waiting for Saga-senpai to come until this senpai showed up._

_"Aww, come on! Just one time won't hurt!" His short and black hair that framed the sides of this senpai's bright face shifted when he tilted his head. He batted his burnt orange colored eyes. "Pleeaase?" _

_"No." I told him. I decided to ignore him by walking in the other direction towards another bookshelf. I sighed when I heard his quick footsteps following mine. Bolting from an adjacent aisle, he turned the corner so he stood right in front of me._

_"Pretty please? It'd be so awesome if you were in judo! I heard from my dad that you're an amaz-"_

_"Does he look like he can fight?" I felt that familiar warmness wrap around my hand before the new person tugged it up upwards and pulled back my sleeve. "Sorry, but I don't see these arms taking anybody down anytime soon." I looked up to see those amber eyes hiding underneath shaggy black hair._

_"Saga-senpai?!" _

_How long has he been there?! _

_"Hah? But-"_

_"Beat it." Senpai had strangely hissed out. The other senpai nervously took a few steps back before he bolted out of the library. I looked at senpai for a moment before he let go of my hand._

_"…" Neither of us seemed to be in the mood for the books so we just left the library._

_The silence just seemed to be unbearable as we slowly headed over to his house. The sun was already starting to set and I could feel that cold spring chill starting to seep into my uniform. The road we were walking on was already vacant and the only other signs of life besides the houses we were walking by were the cherry blossom trees. I just blankly stared at the fluttering pink petals that flew overhead as we slowly pattered down the long strip of pavement._

_"Senpai…" I barely whispered._

_ "What?"_

_I flinched when I realized that he had heard me and I immediately spilled out what I was thinking. "Oh, it's just… it was the first time I've seen you like that towards another student. You know, back at school…" Senpai was always a shy person and I've rarely ever seen him speak so aggressively to someone. The last time I saw him with that same look was when he called me gross… he never apologized but I know that it's not his fault! I was a creepy stalker after all…_

_"…I just wouldn't like it if you took up fighting." Senpai had told me, shrugging his wide shoulders._

_"E-eh?" I was kind of hopeful since that other senpai, more or less, knew what I could do and didn't look at me with disgust. I thought if even he could approve of me, then maybe senpai could…_

_"It'd be troublesome…"_

_"…" _

_I felt heavy and cold weights on my legs. Ah… it's those again. "I-is that so?" Looking down, I saw those shackles again. Metal rings on my legs connected by a long chain._

_I try to walk up to senpai's side but the heavy metal doesn't let me. I could only trail behind him for the rest of the trip to his house, the painfully metallic sounds of the chains coming through my ears only. Obviously, senpai could never hear such ugly noise, but I don't mind as long as I'm by his side…_

_We made love in his room. _

_Whenever we embraced each other, the pain of being trapped by those unbreakable chains seems to disappear. But, this was the only time my feet felt like they were being crushed by them._

_I just couldn't sleep afterwards so I watched over senpai. There was a soft rise and fall of his broad chest, letting soft breaths escape his throat. I gently stroked his thick head of hair as I stared at his peaceful face._

_ "What kind of face would senpai make…?" I softly mumbled to myself. I bit my lower lip as I looked at senpai's serene face._

_I've told him that I loved him over and over again._

_ If he knew what I could do… he won't be able to hear me anymore…_

_"I want to stay by your side…" I told him, knowing he can't hear me._

_…..._

_"…I don't want to do this anymore. I've had enough of this!" I told father. I tossed the arm guards to the floor of my room as I clenched my fists._

_"…!" The next thing I knew, I was on the ground holding a hand to my aching cheek._

_I gritted my teeth as I looked up at father, disappointment coming through his hard eyes. "It sucks! Why can't we be normal?" I could just feel the salty water leaving my eyes. "Is this really freedom?! I don't want to be seen as some kind of monster for the rest of my life!" I tried to stifle the hiccups coming through my throat. "I don't want to fight!"_

_I clenched my fist as I heard father's footsteps come forward, waiting for him to discipline me but to only find him crouching down and pulling me into his arms. "Please… don't say that, Ritsu." Firm warmness came all around me as I cried to myself. "I know it's painful to live like this, but please put up with it…"_

_"Father…" Father's warm arms hugged me tighter._

_"You've already had that close call from when you were little…"_

_"…" Needless to say, I cried even harder from the terrible memory… there was so much blood…_

_I felt father's warm hand rub the back of my head to help me snap out of it, just like whenever he comforted me after one of my nightmares. "No matter what era we live in, the people will always be the same. And we can't change who we are, that's just how it is…" Father pulled back to show his green eyes ringed with gold staring into me. "But as you get older, you'll find more things that you want to protect. You might've already found some things that you want to protect..."_

_Senpai…_

_"Please remember, Ritsu. Even if we can't change who we are, things can still change if we fight." He slid his hands over to my chin to cup my cheeks. "Alright?" He gently asked me. I gave him a slight nod as he rubbed away the streaks of tears on my cheeks with his thumbs._

_"…" I couldn't but giggle in the end. I think this was the first time that I've seen my father like this. He raised an eyebrow when he noticed my soft laughter and I rubbed away a sly tear from his cheek with my finger._

_"I guess you're a crybaby too…" I softly giggled out._

_…..._

_"Saga- senpai! How'd you like it?" We were in the library after school had already ended and senpai just gave me back the book I loaned him. It'd only been a few days but senpai had already managed to finish the book. I guess I shouldn't be surprised..._

_"It was pretty good…" Senpai calmly nodded his head as he started to tell me everything he liked about the book._

_For as long as we are together, the more likely he'll find out about me. I won't be able to tell him I love him when that happens. I'd be too much of a monster for him to be able to hear my words. I know that for a fact now._

_But I love senpai. _

_If I can protect senpai in the end, then it doesn't matter._

_Not at all._

* * *

_ …..._

"(We might as well test you out.)" The leader darkly told as he looked over at Ritsu and Hiyori standing across the hall, all of the light machine guns being pointed at them.

"…What?" Akihiko said in disbelief.

Ritsu immediately turned to crouch down to Hiyori. "Hiyori, I'm going to need you to hold on tight. Alright?" He gently told as he held onto her thin shoulders.

"…?" Hiyori only gave him a bewildered look until everybody heard the first click of the guns.

"…!" All of the gunmen started to fire at Ritsu and Hiyori. Bullets rained down on them as Ritsu held Hiyori in his arms and quickly dashed over to a nearby pillar. All of the gunfire had stopped as soon it was clear that they weren't leaving the pillar.

"There's a child over there! What the hell are you thinking?!" Yokozawa had yelled as his anger had reached its boiling point. Too fast for either Kirishima or Masamune to stop him, Yokozawa was already getting up to march over to the leader.

"…!" However, everyone was thrown off guard when the taller man had burst over to Yokozawa and grabbed him by the front of his suit. Easily lifting him off his feet, Yokozawa clawed at the leader's arm to get out of his grip but it was no use.

"Yokozawa!" Yokozawa was thrust against a nearby pillar with a resounding thud, leaving numerous cracks in the white stone. The dark-haired man slightly bobbed his head from the disorienting blow before the leader decided to move his hand up to Yokozawa's neck.

"Gah…" Kirishima could feel the color leave his face when he saw the tan fingers slowly but surely squeezing in on Yokozawa's neck. However, Yokozawa only gritted his teeth as he continued to glare at the leader before him.

"Heh… looks like one of you has balls…" The leader had cheekily told before he gave a sinister smile. "But runts like you should really know your place…!" Quickly pulling his other arm back, the swift fist struck Yokozawa's stomach.

"Agh…!" Yokozawa's body involuntarily shook at the force of the punch. A coarse cough struggled out of his throat as he coughed up a small blotch of blood. "Ha… ah…" Yokozawa's hands slipped away from the broad arm and went down to clutch at his aching stomach.

"Yokozawa… san…" Yukina had murmured. He couldn't help but shiver at the ferocity of the leader. Yukina held Kisa in his arms more tightly as he noticed the cracks of the stone behind Yokozawa had gotten larger. His light brown eyes stole hidden glances to all of his fellow hostages but it seemed they were too shocked to do anything to help.

A small speck of blood slid down the leader's tan cheek as he raised an eyebrow. "Hm…? You're still alive?" A dark chuckle came through the foreign man's thick throat as he pulled his fist back. "Let's try for another round, shall we?" Before the leader could throw the second punch, he stopped halfway when a knife flew at his head. Dodging it, he tilted his head back and instantly let go of Yokozawa's neck, letting the man slump down to the floor. The leader stole an icy glance at Ritsu's form across the hall, still holding the other knife.

Kirishima could feel a small sigh of relief coming on until the leader immediately turned back to Yokozawa and grabbed a fistful of his hair.

"Hmph…" The leader quickly turned and stomped his large boot against the floor. "(Here's round two!)" Doing an overhead throw, the leader launched Yokozawa's body across the room.

"Oi!" Kirishima cried out. He was about to bolt up for Yokozawa but was tackled down to the ground by Isaka and Asahina. He tried to squirm his way out but found it to be of no use to get out of underneath the two men. All he could do was watch Yokozawa soar through the air.

"Kiri…" Yokozawa had weakly murmured. Sapphire eyes dazedly remained focused on Kirishima's growingly distant form as they slowly closed.

"Yokozawa-san!" Bolting out into the open, Ritsu frantically headed for Yokozawa. All of the gunmen started to fire at Ritsu the moment he was out. The sounds of gunfire echoed throughout the large room before Ritsu put all the power into his feet. It all stopped when Ritsu leaped up for Yokozawa.

"Shit…" Yanase had murmured. The high height in which Ritsu had leaped up was way too high for any normal human to make. It was easy to realize that all of the gunmen had stopped shooting for the moment was because they were obviously surprised by the amazing feat.

Catching him mid-flight, Ritsu held the larger man in his arms as they came back down to the floor. Ritsu could only grit his teeth as the gunmen started to fire at them again. Keeping Yokozawa close to the floor, Ritsu managed to dodge all of the bullets as he quickly rolled and barreled their way to the pillar, using the knife to deflect against the occasional bullet.

"Yokozawa-san…" Making it back to the safety of the pillar in one piece, Ritsu gently put Yokozawa's body down against the back of the pillar. He held a sigh of relief when he heard Yokozawa's strong breathing but frowned at the sight of the finger-shaped bruises already forming on his neck and the small dab of blood on the corner of his mouth.

_"That asshole…"_ Ritsu had thought to himself.

"Onii-chan…" Coming to his side, Hiyori gently pressed her small hand against Yokozawa's forehead. She frowned at the sight of all of the damage that had been done to him before Ritsu crouched down next to her.

"I'm sorry, Hiyori…"

"…" Still in shock, Hiyori couldn't find any words to say for the moment. Ritsu felt a heavy pang when he saw the emptiness in Hiyori's eyes. "…What happens next? Papa… Yokozawa onii-chan… will they also…?" She stole a little glimpse at the trail of the spy's blood not too far away from them and back at the small splotch of blood on Yokozawa's suit. Dull empty eyes widen at the terrifying thoughts as streams of water flowed down Hiyori's pale cheeks.

"Don't worry, it'll be alright." Ritsu had gently patted Hiyori on the head. He gave her a soft smile before he turned towards the crowd and put two fingers in his mouth.

A whistle had echoed throughout the room.

"O-oi!" Misaki had cried out as a flapping of wings followed suit.

"A bird?" Getting out of underneath the table, Kero flew up and over everybody's heads as he headed towards the duo.

"Kero-chan…!" Kero had sung out. Everyone raised an eyebrow at the strange bird as Kero happily flapped his way behind the pillar and landed on Ritsu's wrist.

"Kero…" Ritsu warmly chuckled at the bird's vigor before he moved his hand down to Hiyori's shoulder, letting Kero hop onto her. "Hiyori, I need you to listen to Kero. He'll help you get out of here." Ritsu turned towards a ventilation grate in the wall within close proximity to them. It was fairly small but it was big enough for someone of Hiyori's size to get through with ease. As ridiculous as it seemed, Ritsu knew this was Hiyori's best chance of getting out of here.

"…" Hiyori already obviously knew for a fact that those strange men were after her. So she should be trying to get as far away from them as possible. That's basically human instinct. However, she wasn't sure how the strange bird would be able to help her.

She stroked Yokozawa's short locks as she kept thinking on her decision.

"I'll watch over him for you, you have my word." Strong emerald met wavering brown as Hiyori let the small bird on her shoulder rub its small head against her cheek.

"Alright…" She gave a small nod before gently giving Yokozawa a kiss on the cheek and following Ritsu to the nearby grate.

"Yay! We're going on an adventure!" Kero had happily chirped out.

"(Hey! She's escaping!)" With the sound of the grate being pulled out, everybody watched on in surprise when they saw Hiyori following the gray colored bird into the ventilation duct. "(Stop where you are!)" One of the nearby men had pulled out a pistol and tried to charge over to stop Hiyori from escaping.

"…!" Without warning, Ritsu chucked the metallic grate over to the intercepting man, knocking the pistol out of his hands. "Ah…" He momentarily held his aching hands before looking up at the sound of solid footsteps. Ritsu jumped at him with a midair kick, planting a foot on the larger man's chest. He fell back and hit the ground with a very heavy thud as Ritsu stood on top of the unconscious man's body.

He strongly held his ground as he turned to the large group of enemies standing before him, defensively holding up the shiny knife at them. "(I'm not letting you pass.)" Ritsu had sternly told as he stepped off the body. "(Scum…)"

"(Damn…)" One of the gunmen had muttered. They all clicked their light machine guns and were ready to start firing again.

"(Hold.)" The leader told as he held up his bronze hand to signal his men to stand down. However, they all turned to him in surprise.

"(Boss? Shouldn't we kill him?!)"

"(So that's who that kid was…)" He had muttered to himself. "(So? What are you going to do? Are you going to fight everybody in this room?)" A large hand fanned out as the leader gestured to all of the gunmen in the room before he crossed his arms, letting a smirk flit past his lips. "(As skilled as you are, it'd be pretty difficult to defend yourself against so many firearms.)"

"(I'll fight.)" Ritsu had strongly proclaimed.

"(Normally, I would ask for all of you to surrender but… you could say that I have a _really_ strong urge to vent out my frustration…)" Ritsu's emeralds had eerily turned darker as his gaze shifted from the trail of blood, Yokozawa's collapsed form, the slowly bleeding wound on Yoshino's stomach, the reddening gash that had formed on Mino's back, and to the enemies in the room.

Everybody waited for a moment for the leader to come up with his decision. "(I want him alive. That's an order, got it? Use the asps if you have to.)"

"(…You heard him!)" One of the thugs had cried out to his comrades. A glint of determination went through their dark eyes as they switched out their deadly knives for telescopic batons. "(All at once!)" In unison, they dashed towards Ritsu.

"(Fine by me!)" Bolting forward, Ritsu jumped up to a table before leaping over to the group of rushing men. "Argh…!" Holding a foot forward, Ritsu quickly landed a kick on the first man's face. As the man fell back, Ritsu pushed him off and jumped over to the next person, aggressively kicking the man right below the ribs and sent him flying back.

The moment he actually stayed on the ground, it turned into a jarring battle as everybody attacked Ritsu at once with the metallic batons at the ready. Sparks flew as the single blade swiftly shifted between each baton aimed at Ritsu.

With the best opening he could find, Ritsu grabbed the end of one of the batons and swiftly kicked up at its owner's abdomen. "Argh!" Sending the surprised man up and off his feet, Ritsu quickly spun and delivered another aggressive kick to the side of the man's torso and sent him plowing into three of his comrades that were adjacent to him.

"Unh…!"

Grabbing the back of his suit, Ritsu tried to get out of one of the men's hold on him by repeatedly elbowing him in the face but to no avail. Losing patience, Ritsu pressed both feet against the floor, jumping over and right behind the man to slip off the jacket, covering his opponent's face. Clad in his slightly bloody button-up shirt, Ritsu did a quick roundhouse kick against the larger man's side and launched him into a pillar, releasing many cracks into the stone.

"(Take this!)" One of the men had called out. Finding a fire extinguisher hooked to the one of the pillars, one of the thugs threw it in Ritsu's direction. Shifting to the side, the blade of Ritsu's knife cut through the red metal, releasing a large cloud of the white gas as the container banged against the ground. The shine of a metallic baton had shown through as the first man cut through the whiteness to engage Ritsu. There was a small moment of clanging between metal before Ritsu quickly found an opening and grabbed the front of his opponent's shirt, tugging him down as Ritsu quickly kneed the man's chin. Dazing him, Ritsu kicked up his leg and sent the man flying into a table.

Ritsu held a light jump in his feet as he turned his attention to the rest of his enemies. "(Who's next?)"

The next person ran up to him, trying to land the first blow with his baton. However, Ritsu quickly did a backwards somersault before jumping forward. "Gah…" With a single midair roundhouse kick to the side of the head, Ritsu sent the larger man's body pounding down into the floor.

Ritsu had gritted his teeth when he looked back up at the large amount of enemies standing before him in the slowly dissipating mist, the biggest obstacle in getting to the distant leader. _"Still too many… maybe I can try…" _Pushing his foot off the ground, Ritsu bolted towards the group, shocking everybody when a shockwave followed suit. A large moving pile of people started to form as Ritsu charged through.

"Argh!" Unable to keep going in the large pile, Ritsu quickly put his hands to the floor and spun his legs out to kick away the men. They all flew back in various directions as Ritsu hopped back to his feet and muttered a curse when he saw them getting back up to rejoin their comrades who didn't get caught in the pileup.

_"It's no use! I can't do that yet with my muscles still like this…" _Emerald eyes stole a glance to the large vacant space behind him. _"I need a longer start…"_ He had thought as one of the men came up from the side. Coming at him with a baton, Ritsu also darted forward, only to jump and plant both feet on the larger man's chest. Using the body as leverage, Ritsu bounced off him to do a large backwards leap into the air.

"Damn…" Nearly everybody in the room had muttered. Looking as if he could fly, Ritsu did several backward flips into the air before landing in front of the farthest wall of the room. He defensively crouched where he had landed as he had taken a wider look of where all of his enemies stood.

"What? Do you have cold feet now?" The leader had chuckled out.

_"No… people have already gotten hurt because I wasn't strong enough…" _The floor beneath Ritsu's feet had cracked. _"If Kero is already here then my family could be…" _Ritsu furrowed his brow at thought. "Tsk." He clicked his tongue before suddenly recomposing himself.

Creating deeper foot shaped indentations in the floor, Ritsu pushed off and made a thundering dash through the hall. Many tables had unexpectedly flown up from the powerful wind. "Argh!" Barreling through all of the enemies, Ritsu made one final leap towards the leader, knife at the ready.

The leader was obviously surprised by his move but managed to pull out a knife to quickly defend against Ritsu's. The moment they clashed, the leader immediately bucked his knees at the astonishing pressure as the ground below them started to develop a rather deep indentation.

"(M-monster…)" One of the thugs quivered out.

"(Looks like you live up to the family name!)" The leader had cheekily pointed out as he pushed forward. Ritsu tried to sweep up a kick into the man's jaw but he dodged as Ritsu used the pressure on the knives to push off and get back. Landing on the ground, Ritsu held up the knife as he decided on his next move.

Ritsu had surprisingly chuckled in return as he dashed forward. "(I'm not the only monster here!)" Ritsu had announced as their knives had clashed yet again.

"(Oh, touché…)"

"…"Shifting away from Ritsu's attention, one of the recovering thugs had stolen a quick glance at Masamune, sitting in the front row of the crowd. The terrorist had remembered how frantic Masamune had been earlier as he quietly made his way over.

"Takano-san!" Kisa had cried out. No one had seen it coming when the thug had made a final dash over to Masamune, grabbing him and pulling him forward into the ground.

"Ah…" Masamune let out a small gasp when the side of his head had hit the carpet first, followed by the boot pressing between his shoulder blades.

"(Don't move!)" The foreign man had cried out, holding a pistol to Masamune's head.

"…!" One look away and the next thing he knew, the terrorist panicked as he saw Ritsu making an impossibly long jump across the room. Ritsu spun his leg to give a strong kick, only to miss when the terrorist had hastily dodged him and stepped away.

"Ono…dera?" Masamune hazily looked up to see Ritsu standing next to him.

"(Y-you…?!)"

"You have no idea how much you sicken me…" Ritsu threw the blade to the ground as he heavily stomped over to where the assailant had quivered. "I'm sure you've noticed how capable I am of breaking bones. If you'd wish to know what it's like to be paralyzed from the waist down… I'll be more than happy to show you. " He venomously hissed out. Since he spoke in Japanese this time, everybody in the room knew what Ritsu had said. Even the hostages who were just looking on could feel chills go down their spines as Ritsu made his way over to the other man.

Finally registering the situation, Masamune snapped out of it. "Stop, Onodera…!" He had called out.

On that moment, Ritsu could hear the heavy clanging of metal.

"Eh…?" He stopped in his tracks and turned back towards Masamune. Ritsu was at a loss of what to do when he saw the frantic look on Masamune's face. Terrified emeralds couldn't break away from amber as Ritsu started to shake. "…T-Takano-san, I-"

A bang echoed throughout the room.

Masamune momentarily winced at the sensation of warm liquid hitting his face. "…Onodera? Onodera!" Looking back, he saw blood protruding from a spot right above Ritsu's collar bone. The pain flashed across his face as Ritsu held a hand to his bleeding wound.

"Ah…" The strong smell of iron started to show as the blood seeped through Ritsu's white shirt. Everybody turned to see that it was in fact the man that Ritsu had just threatened was the one who shot him.

"(I said I want him alive!)" The leader had yelled.

"(But he…)"

The leader could only sigh before running a hand through his short hair. "(Well, I guess that's what you get for trying to protect someone.)"

"Ono-" Masamune tried to stretch out his hand to Ritsu but stopped himself when he found Ritsu inching away from him… in fear.

"Don't touch me…"

"…!" Feeling a strong dullness take over, Ritsu almost fell forward before he caught himself. However, a dull glaze in his emeralds was showing through as the seconds flew by. Dull emeralds slightly widen when Ritsu finally notices a new cut on his wrist.

_"When did this…?"_

"('A change of plans' huh? You didn't think I hadn't noticed this hidden in your sleeve, did you?)" After reciting what Ritsu had previously mumbled, the leader had pulled out the familiar sharpened paperclip that had a small dab of blood on the tip.

"No…" Misaki had murmured to himself, deep eyes having gone wide.

"(You of all people should know I've been in this business for a long time. It's hard for me to not be able to smell these at this point.)" Dropping the makeshift pin to the floor, the leader pressed his foot over it as he crossed his arms.

"What the hell is that?" Akihiko had asked as he turned to Misaki, as well as the others who were within earshot.

Misaki narrowed his eyes in disbelief. "…Onodera-san's original plan just backfired." Everybody blinked twice before Misaki continued. "You see…" Misaki started to quietly reveal Ritsu's original plan to everyone nearby, keeping his eyes focused on Ritsu to avoid seeing the shocked look in everybody's faces.

"Ha…" Still clutching his bleeding shoulder, Ritsu heavily panted as he struggled to keep standing.

Chuckling at his current state, one of the nearby thugs had walked up to Ritsu. "(Hehe, now just come quietly you little-)" Cutting him off, Ritsu gave a strong kick to the taller man's gut. "Uh…" The man couldn't even cough as he fell to his knees and Ritsu stepped to the side when he fell flat on his face.

"Like I'll surrender to you…" Ritsu had desperately panted out.

_"I've already decided, so I shouldn't be hesitating but…"_

"(You should all know better than to just casually walk up to a cornered animal.)" The leader only sighed at his subordinate's moment of stupidity. "(So? Why are you still fighting?)" The leader cocked a thick eyebrow when he noticed that Ritsu had gone completely still. "Hm…?" Walking up to him, all of his subordinates cringed in fear when they saw the leader getting so close to Ritsu. "(What a trooper, huh?)" The moment the leader grabbed Ritsu's shoulder, Ritsu had immediately slouched to the side. Ritsu's head bobbed back to show everybody the terrifyingly dull emeralds, letting everybody know that he succumbed to the drug.

"Onodera…" Masamune had blankly muttered to himself. Masamune could feel a strong pang in his chest when he saw the empty emeralds boring into him.

Picking him up, the leader held Ritsu in his arms and completely ignored the blood seeping into his clothes from Ritsu's bullet wound as he headed towards the doors.

One of the gunmen went over to where Masamune still sat. "Get back in the group." Still in shock, Masamune didn't bother to move as he continued to watch the leader carry away Ritsu in his arms. "Move it!" Losing his patience, the man kicked Masamune in the side.

"…" Not saying anything, Masamune only got up and held an unreadable look on his blood covered face as he headed back into the group of shocked hostages. In his mind, he kept replaying the sight of the terrified pair of emeralds he previously saw.

"What are you doing to him?!" Kirishima had bellowed out as he saw one of the remaining men go over to where Yokozawa's unconscious form was. He picked Yokozawa up and tossed him over his shoulder, ignoring Kirishima's question as he followed the leader towards the doors. However, Kirishima was about to yell again until he heard the click of a gun and turned to see one of the gunmen holding the gun at the ready, letting Kirishima know that he was nearly getting to his last straw. "…"

"(We're going on ahead. I don't want this guy bleeding out on us.)" The leader had told as he neared toward the doors before gesturing to his fallen subordinates that were splayed out across the large reception hall. "(Help out the others and get them to the medic.)" The few remaining thugs that seemed to be swooning in place had nodded and started to tend to their comrades as he left the room.

The doors closed to leave everybody to collect their thoughts.

...

* * *

**A/N: And that ends this chapter! With another cliffy! Aren't I evil? :D**

**I know some bits seemed weird like why would Hiyo blindly trust Kero into finding a way through a ventilation maze but I was like, whatever, it's going to happen. Sorry if any of you felt kind of... the hell? But oh well!**

**On another note... sorry Yokozawa... ;-;**

**I already came to the thought a long time ago that Yokozawa was supposed to take some kind of damage. Don't ask me why, but it'll be revealed some time later. But I felt so emotional when I separated him from Kiri! ;n;**

**But there's still quite a few chapters to go so there is still many things to come!**

**I hope you all didn't mind the first person perspective I tried out in the beginning. I kind of wanted to get into Ritsu's head when all this random stuff about his family's past was revealed. Like how he acted in his mind when thinking about the family versus when he was with Masamune. Completely different attitude! Or so I hope you think when you read my awkward attempt...**

**SaySaeri- It's so awesome that you typed that for a review. Makes me full of happiness. **

**Sora Yagami 4869- I'm glad I made your day! :)**

**Prettypunk369- I know, right? But technically Masamune did get on Ritsu's bad side at one point. :D**

**Hiyokocchi- I'm happy that you're excited for all of my OCs and that you remember Tsuri! And I actually did think for a moment that Hiyori should stay with Yoko and Kiri but then I thought that she'd still be in danger if that were the case. So I'd prefer to have her go have adventure time with Kero! Sadly I can't really promise to update quickly because college is starting on Sept. 4th and my chapters tend to be ridiculously long to write. Sorry...**

**Black Rabbit-san- Well I'm pretty sure Ritsu wouldn't try to go badass on Yokozawa because it would mean jail time at the end of it all... plus at this point, I wouldn't want Yoko to get hurt... even though he did...**

**Jajajoker08- I'm so happy that you listened to Two Steps from Hell while reading this! Epicness! :D**

**Natsumi- Thanks for liking my fighting scenes! I'm actually kind of a noob at writing action scenes like these so it really means a lot! I think it's a very smart move for you to research about writing before you actually get into it. It's how I started off. I'm not a professional writer though, I'm only a college student but it's still flattering I'm your idol! Makes me feel all warm and special inside... :)**

**Lavender- Goddamn, are you psychic? I already planned to have Ritsu shot in the shoulder, as you have just witnessed. Well I also planned for him to have the anesthetized needle plan to backfire so I'm kind of glad you didn't foresee that. I hope you use your powers for good! :D**

**Izzy1229anime- I'm glad that everybody is liking the badass Ritsu! You don't really have to worry about Hiyo getting caught with gunmen but I'm sorry for whatever feels you might have about Yoko and Kiri's current separation dilemma... sorry... ;-;**

**Windying- Thanks for reading! All hell breaking loose does add to the drama and I'm happy you like my story! :D**

**Please Review!**


	7. Changing

**Suggested BGM: After the Fall by Two Steps From Hell**

* * *

The terrorists had finished getting the remainder of their fallen comrades out of the room as the hostages merely watched on. Ritsu's damaged jacket still lied on the distant carpet, serving as a reminder for what had previously happened. Many tables and chairs were overturned. There was shattered glass and smashed food scattered all across the crimson carpet. The regal room had truly turned into a mess.

"You idiot… You fucking idiot…" Kirishima had solemnly spoken. He pulled up his long legs to his chest as he gripped a clump of wavy hair. "What part of 'don't do anything stupid' did you not get…?" He gritted his teeth as he stole a glimpse of the cracked pillar where Yokozawa was thrust against.

"Why the fuck didn't I do anything?" He hissed to himself. Dull brown eyes replayed the grim scene, over and over. He saw Yokozawa getting pulled away from his reach, crying out in pain as he was coughing up blood, and thrown across the room as if he were a toy. Kirishima took a deep breath as he held his hand to his mouth to hold back tears…

"Be gentle." Mino had chuckled out. He turned to see Yanase sitting right behind him, holding a slightly bloody napkin in his hand as he tried to dab away at the back wound. As it turned out, the reason he had gotten the gash was not from a bullet, but from some broken glass. Yanase had to pick out tiny shards of glass, which was proof of how it happened, which meant that one of the bullets from that earlier barrage must've hit something.

"How on earth are you so calm?"

"The worst thing you can do in a situation like this is panic." Mino had calmly pointed out. "Well, at this point it's really uncertain as to what's going to happen to us. But I guess that's the fun part." At this point, Yanase had immediately given out a small chuckle.

"You're so weird."

"Yoshino, how do you feel?" Hatori had asked. He had already grabbed for another napkin as he continued to press the other one on the wound.

"A little cold but I can manage…" Yoshino had weakly told. His face had already gotten a little paler and it was clear that it was only a matter of time until it wouldn't be enough to slow down the bleeding with only napkins.

"…" Frowning at the realization, Hatori quickly took off his dark jacket and placed it over Yoshino's thin body.

Not wanting to get blood on the suit, Yoshino immediately tried to get the jacket off. "N-no, you don't have to do that…" Hatori gave a small smile as he gently pressed his hand over Yoshino's.

"I want to."

A little ways away from the blushing mangaka, Kisa had worriedly looked on as he saw Masamune in a daze. "Takano-san… are you alright?" Kisa had asked. Grabbing some napkins, he and Yukina had shifted over to Masamune.

He was about to use the napkins to dab away at the drying blood on Masamune's face. However, he was stopped when Masamune slapped his hand away. "Why the hell are you asking me that? Are you an idiot?"

"Kisa-san is just trying to help you." Yukina had hissed out.

Yukina was about to tell Kisa to just leave Masamune alone but he decided to try again. This time, Masamune let Kisa dab the napkins onto his face. "He just got shot in front of me… because of me… now he and Yokozawa are at the mercy of terrorists… do you honestly think I'm alright?" Overhearing him, Kirishima had turned to Masamune in surprise. Masamune grimaced as he saw the blood coming off onto the napkin.

Grabbing another napkin, Kisa gently wiped away the remaining blood that had clung on to the tips of Masamune's hair. "Takano-san, were you and Ricchan really…?" Kisa didn't have the urge to finish that sentence since he knew Masamune most likely knew what he was asking.

"…Yeah."

"I don't think you were completely in the wrong when you stopped him earlier." Since Yukina didn't know what the meaning of that question was, he decided to speak his thoughts. Kisa and Masamune both looked at Yukina in surprise as he continued. "…Those people might've killed him in the end if his threat had come true. Not to mention they might've vented their anger on Yokozawa-san. I think you saved them in that regard."

"…" Masamune and Kirishima both looked down at the carpet in thought.

"That doesn't change the fact that they were after him." Isaka had grimly cut in. "Since they have them now, those two are still at their mercy."

Asahina blinked twice when he felt a tug on his sleeve and turned to see Aikawa with a worried look on her face. "Is that why you told us not to say Onodera's name? Because you knew these people would attack him?" Aikawa had asked.

"The members of the Onodera family were always considered living targets. They were all cursed." Isaka had confessed. Sapphire eyes glanced at each of the surrounding gunmen before turning back to his subordinates. "I personally didn't think much of it when Onodera transferred to Marukawa. I already knew how capable as a fighter he was and there haven't been any incidents in over ten years so I thought all of this was in the past…"

"The Queen's case was the last time we ever heard about these guys so…" Asahina grimaced at the memory as he failed to finish the sentence.

"Just what is this Queen's case?" Masamune had exasperatedly asked. He ran a hand through his hair as he looked at Akihiko, Isaka, and Asahina for the answer.

"That's…"

"Something you'd rather not talk about, right?" Mino had pointed out with a small smile.

"…" The trio had solemnly nodded as their gazes shifted to the floor for a moment. Isaka's sapphires grew wide with realization as he looked at Mino.

"Mino, were you…"

"(I know nothing.)" Mino had happily said in perfect English. "Hehe…" He held back a chuckle when he saw the surrounding hostages' awed gazes.

Misaki took a deep breath before tapping Aikawa on the shoulder. "…Aikawa-san, can you do me a favor?" She tilted her head in confusion as Misaki whispered into her ear.

"…"

It surprised _everyone _when Aikawa immediately burst up from where she was sitting. "Excuse me! I need to use the bathroom!"

"Just go in the corner." One of the gunmen had told.

"…?!" A light blush went past her cheeks as she angrily propped her hands on her hips. "I still have my dignity! Don't you think any of us need to use the bathroom after seeing that?! Sweetie, do you need the bathroom?" Crouching down, Aikawa held out a hand to a nearby woman who was obviously in need of comfort.

"I… I need to use the bathroom too."

"(Tsk. Squeamish women.)" One of the gunmen had sighed. "Fine, the women can go to the bathroom. No funny business! We'll be watching you very carefully!"

One of the gunmen headed to the front door to stand guard as the woman of the group were all being guided out.

"I hope you know what you're doing…" Aikawa had whispered to Misaki. Misaki held a nervous look in his eyes but quickly replaced it with a glint of determination. He gave a strong nod as Aikawa nodded back and left the room with all of the other women.

"Three left…" Misaki sighed at the number of remaining gunmen before turning to Isaka. "…Isaka-san, there's something I need help with." However, he was stopped when Akihiko grabbed his shoulder.

"Misaki, what the hell are you up to?" Akihiko had asked.

"This is the plan B Onodera-san gave me in case he… you know…"

"…Why the hell did he come down here if he knew he was going to get caught?" Masamune had bewilderedly asked.

"…Onodera-san mentioned that he figured there was no way the authorities were going to fit the demands within two hours. He said someone precious to him was down here and he wouldn't forgive himself if he let that person die while he was hiding."

"…" Needless to say, Masamune had gone speechless.

"'The only way for things to change is by fighting.' That's what Onodera-san told me." Misaki had strongly stated as emerald bore into amethyst. "That's the same reason why I'm down here."

"Misaki…"

Isaka sighed as he looked at Akihiko and Asahina. "Now's the only chance we have of getting Onodera and Yokozawa back." Kirishima flinched in surprise at the mention. "The fact that they need helicopters and a jet means that these guys intend to leave the country. If they manage to get them overseas… then it's game over for them…"

A strong pit formed in everybody's stomachs at this final statement.

* * *

…

In the upstairs bathroom, many women were slowly filing in and out as they quivered from the terrorists' watchful eyes. They weren't in the bathroom but they were evenly spaced out among the long path between the grand reception hall, the no longer hidden stairs, and the bathroom.

One of the remaining few in the bathroom, Aikawa sighed as she looked at her reflection in the shiny bathroom mirror. Slender fingers ran through long red hair as she made slight adjustments to her appearance. She tried to think back on what Misaki had whispered to her but she frowned at the thought of him putting himself and the others in more danger.

"…!" Aikawa nearly jumped out of her high heels when she heard a loud rumble from behind the bathroom wall. "W-what was that?" She was sure that it didn't come from the bathroom door and warily walked by the bathroom stalls to find the source of the odd noise.

"Ha… there's so much dust, Kero-san…" A little girl's coughing echoed through the ventilation shaft. "My fingers hurt…"

Aikawa immediately looked up at the wall to see a grate into the ventilation shaft. "You? You were that little girl… you poor thing…" The female editor could feel a strong pang in her chest when she saw the dried blood on Hiyori's face, hair, and dress. As red as the ruffled dress was, the blood still managed to stand out.

"O-onee-san, I was told to give you this…" Undoing the long braid, Hiyori quickly pulled out the hidden object. Aikawa raised a finely plucked eyebrow at the odd object as Hiyori pushed the grate open and handed it over.

"A taser?" A flash of realization crossed her oceanic eyes as she held the dark object in her hand. "I get it now…"

"Come on! We have to hide!" Flapping his wings, Kero gestured back to the inside of the ventilation shaft. Hiyori quickly nodded as she shuffled backwards before they heard Kero giggle. "Shhh…."

"What's taking you so long?" A heavy knock barreled through the bathroom's wooden door.

A small smirk went past red lips.

* * *

….

Sneaking in under the cover of the remaining men in the room, the group of men hid underneath the table. Misaki had fiddled with the dark bag he had with him as he turned to Akihiko. "Do you still have those?" Misaki had asked.

A flash of confusion crossed Akihiko's face before he realized what Misaki had meant. "Ear plugs?" Everybody raised an eyebrow in surprise when they saw him pulling a couple pairs of earplugs out of his pocket.

"I always carry a few pairs with me just in case."

"…" Isaka couldn't help but sigh as he ran his fingers through his hair.

"When Onodera-san tied up those people upstairs, he took out their weapons. He found these." Taking off the bag that he got from one of the incapacitated gunmen, Misaki had pulled out two odd looking cylindrical cases.

"They actually carried those around?" Isaka had curiously asked.

"What the hell are those?" Masamune had asked.

"Onodera-san said they're stun grenades. You'll be deaf and blind for a little bit after this goes off. He wanted me to use it in case I ran into one of them. I was supposed to escape if that had happened."

Going over to the cloth at the edge of their makeshift tent, a purple eye peaked out as Akihiko checked on the locations of all of the gunmen in the room. "So there are three guards and two of them are on one side of the room..."

* * *

….

"Well, that just about does it." Aikawa clapped away at her hands as she looked over the unconscious forms of the gunmen lying on the bathroom floor. A big flash of relief crossed the surrounding women's eyes as they all stood around the men, some of them already holding the light machine guns in their arms. Some of them had struggled to hold them but they managed. "I really have to thank Onodera for this." Aikawa chuckled as she held out the taser.

Walking up next to her was Hiyori. After the successful move incapacitating everybody, Kero had told her to get back out and oddly enough she did follow the bird's command. "Are Yokozawa onii-chan and Ricchan alright?" Hiyori had meekly asked.

Aikawa's eyes nervously shifted to the side. "…They ran into a bit of a problem… but don't worry! The police are right outside so they'll be alright!"

"…" No emotion seemed to cross through Hiyori's empty eyes as she merely nodded before Aikawa turned towards the large group of women.

"Alright ladies, we have to make sure we don't run into any of those guys on the way back, ok?" "I think the men are doing their portion of the work as we speak…" Aikawa turned and beamed at the gray colored bird on top of Hiyori's head. "Right, Kero?"

"That's right!"

* * *

…

"Alright…" Akihiko had said. The plan was already going in motion as he looked across the room to see that Isaka and Asahina had already scooted themselves across the room undetected, each holding a stun grenade and a thick pile of napkins. Since the other two gunmen were spaced away from one another, the duo had no other choice than to split up.

"Let's hope this works…"

"…!" It all began as soon as the two activated their grenades and released two loud balls of light. "Ah…" Since they already had the earplugs in their ears and napkins to shield their eyes, Isaka and Asahina were the only ones in the vicinity of the grenades' radius that weren't affected.

"Hey, wha-" The only other gunmen that wasn't hit by the stun grenades tried to step forward to assess the situation but was cut off when Akihiko quickly got up and disarmed him. As the light machine gun fell to the floor, Akihiko immediately grabbed the front of his shirt and tugged him downwards. He lifted up his leg and kneed the terrorist in the face before quickly spinning and kicking into the side of his head. The enemy fell to the floor, unconscious.

Looking across the room, lavender eyes widened in relief when Akihiko saw Isaka and Asahina standing over the unconscious gunmen.

"We did it…"

"Ow…" The men sitting on the floor who were affected by the weapons had rubbed away at their ears as their eyesight started to return. A large amount of eyes went wide when all of the hostages looked around to see all of the gunmen down for the count. "Are we… we're really?!" The moment they realized that they weren't held at gunpoint anymore, all of the men had jumped for joy and hugged each other in excitement.

"Keep quiet, everybody! We're not completely out of the woods yet!" Isaka had exclaimed.

"…" Quickly taking out the roll of duct tape, Misaki handed it over to Asahina as he went for the chairs. Before setting each of the terrorists on a chair, Isaka and Asahina made it a point to check them for anymore hidden weapons. Clacking and clatter echoed onto a nearby table as the duo managed to pull out hidden knives, pistols, and ammunition cartridges.

"How ridiculous…"

"Onodera…" Finding this to be as good an opportunity as any, Masamune walked over to the vacant area of the room to pick up Ritsu's discarded jacket off the floor. The amber-eyed man winced when he saw Ritsu's blood on the upper sleeve. "Ritsu…" Holding it to his chest, Masamune held back a whimper as he inhaled the soft apple scent emanating from the jacket.

"…" Not knowing what to say, Kisa could only walk up to Masamune and gently rub circles into his back.

"Is it all clear?" A female voice had called out.

"Aikawa-san!" Everybody turned to see the group of women coming back into the room, all of their escorts in tow. Many of the women had run over to their husbands, boyfriends, and what not. A large amount of hugs and warm kisses seemed to be spreading all over the room as everybody quickly remembered and started to pick up their long forgotten phones. They all started to make quick phone calls as some of the women decided to leave the confiscated guns on a nearby table.

"Hiyo!" Kirishima's feet just moved on their own as he saw Hiyori walking in by Aikawa's side. Bolting over, he quickly crouched down in front of Hiyori and pulled her into his arms. "Thank goodness you're alright…"

"Papa…" A small hand gently rubbed Kirishima's back as Hiyori snuggled into his embrace.

Misaki warmly smiled at the hearty scene before turning towards Aikawa. "Everything went alright?"

Aikawa nodded as the men proceeded to grab the four remaining terrorists and dragged them across the room, searching them before tying them to the chairs next to their comrades.

"Well, I do have to thank Onodera for giving this to Hiyori." Aikawa happily chuckled as she pulled out the taser that was hidden in Hiyori's hair and pressed the button to show little sparks of electricity. "And Kero, of course! I remember you telling me about this bird before, right sensei?" Aikawa had gestured to Kero on her shoulder, who had then flapped his wings and flew over to Akihiko.

"The Onodera family's psychic bird that can see into the future…" Kero landed on Akihiko's shoulder as he continued. "I remember meeting this guy a few times when Onodera used to be my editor." Akihiko had told as he gently rubbed his cool fingers onto the soft underside of the bird's neck.

"Hehe, that tickles…!" Kero had happily cooed.

Misaki blinked twice at the mention. "Onodera-san used to be your editor?" Akihiko nodded and was about to explain before he noticed what was happening with the father daughter pair before them.

"Hiyo… he's…" Kirishima could feel his heart clench when he noticed Hiyori stealing glances around the room.

"I know, Papa…" Hiyori had blankly told. "But Ricchan promised to watch over Yokozawa onii-chan so I have to believe in him. It's the only thing I can do…" Her dim eyes seemed to hold a small light in them for a split second before going back to their empty state.

"…" Speechless, Kirishima could only pull Hiyori into another hug as he let the hidden tears fall into Hiyori's long locks.

Misaki frowned at Hiyori's current mental state before turning back to the others. "So what next…?" Misaki mentally slapped himself at the realization that he didn't think that far ahead in the plan.

"Those people are probably going to come back after… dealing with those two." Asahina had pointed out. "They should be the next problem to deal with…"

"W-what about the people in the other reception hall? They're still being held at gunpoint…" Yoshino had pointed out.

"That's true. The police still can't do anything because they know what might happen if they come in…" Mino had said.

"They already got that warning…" Everybody held a grim look when they looked over to the long trail of blood that led to one of the balconies.

"…!" A flash of realization crossed Misaki's deep eyes as he turned towards the side doors. "Before I forget…" Everybody raised an eyebrow when they saw him rushing over to the doors.

"Where'd the hell you get all those weapons?!" Small grunts escaped Misaki's mouth as he dragged a bag full of weapons into the room. Akihiko and Isaka hastily rushed over to help Misaki with the heavy bag and propped it up onto one of the tables.

"Remember when I mentioned Onodera-san took out all the weapons off the guys he tied up? I couldn't just leave them in the room for any of the others to find them…" They carefully pulled out all of the weapons to reveal the weapons Ritsu had confiscated. "It still freaks me out just to see them…" Misaki unconsciously rubbed his aching shoulders at the memory of dragging the heavy bag all the way down to this floor. "I snuck in through that door but I left them outside because I thought it'd be too noticeable if I brought them in."

"Nice work, chibi-tan!"

"But I think it might've been a problem if somebody walked by…" Akihiko had murmured to himself. However, he didn't have the heart to point out that serious fact to Misaki. It was clear that it took a lot of courage to just sneak into the room to perform the back-up plan and Akihiko didn't want to get rid of the small hint of happiness in Misaki's deep eyes.

"Does anybody else know how to handle a gun?" Isaka had announced. He and Asahina were already going for the weaponry, testing out the weight of the light machine guns, unaware of the ghastly looks on nearly everybody's faces.

"Hey! You're seriously going to use them?!" Misaki had exclaimed.

"Chibi-tan, you were attacked, saw somebody get shot and thrown out the window, saw how ridiculously strong the leader was and you don't want us to arm ourselves? Don't you think we'd be disrespecting Onodera if we didn't?"

"…" Everyone had stared at Isaka in awe for the moment as they let his blunt words sink in. Many of the people did slight nods but turned their gazes to the floor.

"I do." Akihiko had said, breaking the silence.

"Really?!" Misaki gasped when he saw Akihiko going over to the pile of light machine guns. He ran up to Akihiko's side but was thrown off guard when he patted him on the head.

"Of course." Cold fingers ran through Misaki's long brown locks as Akihiko gave him a genuine smile filled with determination. "Nothing will change if I don't fight."

"Same here." Mino had said as he probed throughout the various pistols that were on the table.

Yanase raised an eyebrow as he walked up to the table but didn't motion to grab any of the weaponry. "…You know how to work a gun?"

The editor calmly nodded as he picked up a semi-automatic pistol and checked the chamber for the ammunition. "Yes, but I think it'd be better for me to use a pistol. Those machine guns can be pretty heavy and my back isn't in the best condition for that kind of weight…"

"…" Yanase couldn't help but grimace at the sight of the small amount of blood still seeping through the back of Mino's suit. Aware of his garnet- eyed gaze, Mino made it a point to keep his bloody back out of sight from Yanase.

"Yukina, you're getting something?"

"It just doesn't feel right if I don't get something to protect you with Kisa-san." Yukina had shrugged his broad shoulders as he looked over the table full of weaponry, unaware of the small blush going across Kisa's cheeks. "Guns freak me out but I don't mind if I can hold on to something like this." Picking up one of the telescopic batons, Yukina held it up to check it before turning towards Kisa.

"So what do you think, Akihiko?" Isaka turned to see Akihiko picking up one of the light machine guns and weighing it out in his hands. Isaka couldn't help but chuckle at the sight of Misaki standing right behind Akihiko, merely crossing his arms and pouting.

"My aim isn't as good as Onodera's but I think I can manage." Akihiko had casually pointed out.

"Onodera knows how to handle a gun?" Masamune had curiously asked.

"You saw him do all that and you're still surprised?"

"Hatori, here you go." Going across the room, Mino had taken an extra pistol and tried to hand it off to Hatori. Both Yoshino and Hatori couldn't help but feel queasy at the sight of the black weapon in Mino's hand.

"…Sorry, I don't-" Hatori was cut off by Yanase's immediate dash across the room.

"Give me that!" Yanase had exclaimed as he swiped the pistol out of Mino's hand. Looking at the metallic gun, Yanase sighed as he furrowed his brow. "Hatori, just focus on treating Chiaki's wound." He stole a glance at the slowly bleeding wound before turning away from Yoshino and Hatori. "…I'll cover you if something happens."

"Yuu…" Yoshino had softly spoken. The secret mangaka's vision was a bit blurry, but Yoshino could still make out Yanase's shoulders shaking, most likely from the fact he's holding a gun. However, he raised an eyebrow when noticed that Mino was chuckling as he looked at Yanase.

"Kero?" Everybody turned towards Kero when they heard a bunch of random chirps. Instead of their usual black color, they were now a strong emerald green. He excitedly flapped his gray wings and flew around in circles over the large group of confused people.

"…!" There was a distant _click_.

"H-hey!" A raging blush went across Yanase's cheeks as Mino grabbed his hand and pulled him behind his back. Yoshino, Hatori, and Yanase were all about to ask what was going on until they noticed Mino holding up his pistol. Akihiko, Isaka, and Asahina held fierce looks in their faces as they held up their weapons.

All of the guns were aimed towards the window of one of the balconies.

"Who's there?!"

* * *

…..

"Ha… ah…" Ritsu unconsciously panted as he lay on the table in a distant room.

The bloody white shirt was removed and tossed to the corner of the room as the medic treated the wounds on Ritsu's bare torso. Burning red had lit up his cheeks as Ritsu unsteadily heaved out the air. The finger shaped bruises that were around his neck were wrapped with gauze. The standard gauze that Hiyori had wrapped around Ritsu's small gash was replaced by another one. A small patch was placed over the cut on Ritsu's rosy cheek.

The terrorist had sighed as he dressed the bloody bullet wound above Ritsu's collar bone. "(It looks like that bullet somehow managed to miss the arteries. As far as I can see, there's some internal bleeding but it's pretty minor. He ought to be able to recover without too much trouble. I guess we were lucky that idiot had used a pistol rather than one of the heavier weapons…)" He lifted up one of Ritsu's eyelids to check his pupil. "(He's trying to fend off that anesthetic you told me about, but it's obvious that he's losing that fight.)"

"(I see.)" The leader had calmly stated.

"(But I never thought he would be such a crazy fighter. I've heard that they're all basically living weapons but do all the Onodera family members really move like that, boss? He seems too scrawny to be capable of doing all that damage…)" Finished cleaning up all of the blood, the medic took his gauze and neatly wrapped it around the bullet wound.

"(Not at his level… well, I've heard rumors that this guy's a combative prodigy. Looks like there was some truth to them after all...)"

"(Come to think of it, it's amazing this guy is even breathing.)" The medic had mentioned. The leader had turned over to Yokozawa's collapsed form on the couch. His steady breathing could be clearly heard throughout the room as his bare chest steadily rose and fell. "(He's got one big ass bruise though…)" His dark eyes had shifted over to Yokozawa's bandage wrapped abdomen. He had similar finger shaped bruises as Ritsu so there was also gently wrapped gauze around his neck.

"(I guess he's the hardy type.)" The leader had chuckled out.

"(I'm going to go check on the others. Call me if anything happens, boss.)" Grabbing his medical supplies, the medic nodded off to the leader as he left the room. Small gasps had filled the room as the leader continued to stare at Ritsu's vulnerable form.

"…" A few minutes had passed before the leader decided to grab Ritsu and hold him in his lap. Ritsu's long legs limply dangled over the leader's as he was held close. Ritsu frantically breathed into the broad chest.

"Takano-san… Takano-san… Takano-san…" Ritsu had deliriously cried out. His body slightly shook as little tears streamed down the sides of his face. "Uwah…" His half open eyes had dully glistened with moisture as he called out to Masamune, over and over.

He immediately calmed down when the leader rested his hand on Ritsu's head. Fingers quickly slipped over Ritsu's soft brown locks as the leader gently rubbed the back of his head. A weak smile graced Ritsu's lips as his dimmed emeralds slowly closed. His head relaxed into the large hand as Ritsu fell into unconsciousness.

"(So beautiful…)" Long tan fingers traced up the curve of Ritsu's pale hip as frigid eyes hungrily looked over Ritsu's vulnerable body. "(It's amazing how I could've forgotten you…)" Moving back up, the warm fingers tilted Ritsu's dainty chin as the leader leaned over.

He gave him a soft kiss on the lips.

* * *

**And so ends this installation. Sorry guys, I'm not in the best mood right now. I guess that could explain why there are a bunch of awkward bits floating around here.**

**Edit:**

**Hiyokocchi- I'm really happy that you got so into this story. I did base the way Ritsu and his family had dealt with their issues off of how they showed Elizabeth's story in kuroshitsuji. However, the situations that they had were kind of different. Actually, I'm going to show a little bit more of Ritsu's past soon so I hope you'll have that to look forward to. :)**

**Sora Yagami 4869- Sorry for the cliffhanger. Also, I'm sorry if it wasn't clear enough, but since it was obvious Ritsu could take on so many people, the henchman figured the leader wouldn't last long against Ritsu. Since Masamune obviously held some sort of connection to Ritsu, (ex. Constantly trying to get up and get to Ritsu when he's being held at gunpoint) the henchman figured Masamune would be the best bait to stop Ritsu. I hope that helped. :)**

**SaySaeri- Well, technically, Masamune was out of it, plus nobody thought Ritsu would get shot after all of that fighting. :)**

**Windying- I'm happy that you love the story! You'll find out about the family soon enough... :D**

**NinjaSheik- I left this on a cliffy because I can! *inserts evil laugh here*I'm the younger twin sister by the way. According to the doctor, I was supposed to be born first but my sister pushed me out of the way at birth. I was a natural born pushover... *Sighs* But when I told my friends and teachers about it in high school, they all laughed and held it over my sister's head until graduation. So I got my revenge in the end. :D**

**Aqua8842- How did I manage to come up with this? My mind tends to wander around at times and this is how it ends up. :D**

**Cookiethug- Yeah, the whole situation really was stressful for Ritsu. But everything will soon change for him. Also, thanks for loving my taste in music! It really means a lot. I'll be putting up different suggestions in different fics and chapters as i go on. I hope you look forward to it! :)**

**Lavender- Don't worry, the fic will be ending pretty soon actually. I have quite a few chapters left and they'll be pretty long so I hope you'll bear with it.**

**Until again...**


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